Waiting For Tonight
by Patricia Sorbid
Summary: AU Goblet of Fire, HPCD, Eventual Slash. What if Cedric and Harry had secret feelings for each other? They must realize and deal with these feelings during the Triwizard tournament, before it’s too late.
1. Prologue

_Disclaimer: _This is based upon J.K. Rowling's series of novels, Harry Potter, mostly drawing from the _Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. _Also, the song is Jennifer Lopez's_ Waiting for Tonight. _I thought it would fir the situation

_A/N: _I think that this story is in desperate need of a prologue. So here it is. Look for the chapter one later tonight!

_Summary_: What if Cedric and Harry had secret feelings for each other? They must realize and deal with these feelings during the Triwizard tournament, before it's too late.

**Prologue: Waiting For Tonight**

He lay there, dreaming sweet dreams...

_Like a movie scene _

_In the sweetest dreams _

_I have pictured us together _

_Now to feel your lips _

_On my fingertips _

_I have to say is even better _

_Than I ever thought it could possibly be _

_It's perfect, it's passion, it's setting me free _

_From all of my sadness _

_The tears that I've cried _

_I have spent all my life _

_Waiting for tonight, _

_When you would be here in my arms _

_Waiting for tonight,_

_I've dreamed of this love for so long_

_Waiting for tonight _

_Tender words you say _

_Take my breath away _

_Love me now, leave me never _

_Found a sacred place _

_Lost in your embrace _

_I want to stay in this forever _

_I think of the days when the sun used to set _

_On my empty heart, all alone in my bed _

_Tossing and turning _

_Emotions were strong _

_I knew I had to hold on _

_Waiting for tonight,_

_When you would be here in my arms _

_Waiting for tonight,_

_I've dreamed of this love for so long_

_Waiting for tonight _

_Gone are the days when the sun used to set _

_On my empty heart all alone in my bed _

_Tossing and turning _

_Emotions were strong _

_I knew I had to hold on _

_Waiting for tonight…_

It may not be tonight, but it would be some day. They would be together.

And slowly he floated back into his dreams.


	2. Chapter 1: Off to the Cup

_Disclaimer: _This is based upon J.K. Rowling's series of novels, Harry Potter, mostly drawing from the _Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire_.

_A/N:_ Okay, I have the urge to write this fiction with Harry/Cedric. Interestingly enough, there is an utter lack of these types of fics. So hopefully, I'll be going into a genre that needs some more variety. And hopefully I'll be able to give the events in the Goblet of Fire a new spin. And sorry about the late update, my beta and I revamped the chapter to make it more original. At least that's what I hope for. Hey, no more babbling, let's get to the story. Please read and review! But first, the summary!

_Summary_: What if Cedric and Harry had secret feelings for each other? They must realize and accept these feelings during the Triwizard tournament, before it's too late.

Chapter 1: Off to the Cup 

_"Interesting," commented the corpse sitting in the chair. It was a wonder that the thing was alive._

_"What is it, Master?" asked Wormtail, cowering before the Dark Lord._

_"Nagini has just told me the Muggle is standing right outside this room. Please, turn me around to see him," said the Dark Lord. _

_Frank Bryce, the old caretaker of the Riddle House, was frozen with fear, his eyes glazed over in terror. He thought— no, knew— that his death was coming._

He saw the remains of what should be a man, a shadow of a life. His worst suspicions were confirmed as he gazed into the thing's eyes.

_"Avada Kedavra!" screamed the Dark Lord, his wand pointed at the Muggle. Instantly, an eerie green light flooded the room as though it were the middle of day._

_Without a sound, the light hit Frank. He fell over dead. A loud "thump" echoed throughout the room as his head hit the hardwood floor. And the Dark Lord laughed._

That was all he could take.

Harry woke with a start, sweating profusely and his scar singing into his skull. His hands were on his forehead, holding his scar, trying desperately to ease the pain.

He could not believe what he had just seen. Had he seen it? Had it been real? Who was that man in the dream?

Something about it felt so tangible, so concrete as though it had actually happened. And Harry's burning scar only served to strengthen the notion that something bad had happened, perhaps the murder of a Muggle. But what else had he seen, what else had been so violent, had made his scar hurt—

Voldemort!

Harry had seen Voldemort. He knew he had to tell someone about the event, but who? Harry pondered who would prove the best to tell.

_Ron wouldn't know what to do, he would probably want me to contact the Ministry_, Harry thought. _And Hermione… she would be more help than Ron, but even she doesn't have experience with dreams like these. She'd go look in a book probably or tell me to go see Dumbledore. But I just want someone to talk to about this, I don't want to alarm Dumbledore…_

And then it hit him.

Sirius. He could tell Sirius what happened. He knew he could trust Sirius. He knew it.

Harry searched for his quill, and wrote a short letter telling of the mysterious dream he had. He woke Hedwig up and sent her way with the letter. He gave her an affectionate pat before she flew away.

With that dream under control, and his scar finally beginning to cool, Harry felt that he could go back to sleep. Sleep was probably his favorite part of his annual summer stay at the Dursley's. After all, it was the one part of his day where he was treated with dignity, where Dudley, Petunia, and Vernon could not scold him for being a Potter. His dreams gave him bliss.

_He was hundreds of miles from his bed, in the countryside._

_A sunlit field, a golden Snitch flashing in the sun's rays. He looks up and smiles, his Firebolt speedily ascending towards the devious Snitch. His green eyes twinkle with joy as he flies onward._

_The Snitch swoops downward into the shade of the Quidditch stands. Harry follows the golden sparkle into the shade, his clothes billowing behind him as he dives downward._

_He maneuvers through the stands, the Snitch trying its best to avoid him. Over and under the wooden supports, barely missing certain doom. The Snitch tries and tries to zoom away. But he is too good. He is Harry Potter, and he can catch that Snitch._

_The Snitch will not give up though and veers left and out of the stands, glistening in the sunlight. He follows close behind, leaving the endless forest of wood, the sunlight showering his face, his body, and his broom. He flies out to the middle of the field, hundreds of feet in the air now, the Snitch within his reach. So he stands on his zooming broom, his arm outstretched, his fingers grasping for the Snitch._

_And then…He notices something glint to the right of him. He ignores it, eager to catch the Snitch. But it doesn't ignore him. Another player purposefully flies into him, swooping him off of his broom and into his arms. Harry looks up and smiles, staring into the gray eyes, lost in them. The buzzer sounds—_

Harry awoke with a start, his alarm clock buzzing non-stop, his dream fading into nothingness.

'Just when things were getting good,' he thought thinking about the Snitch, and… something else. He had already forgotten it. He hoped that it would come back to him later. That dumb device just had to go off, didn't it? But Harry knew it helped he had to wake up. He had to get going if he would be ready to go on time.

Today was the day that the Weasleys would be picking him up for this hellhole. He couldn't contain his excitement when the letter had come in the mail. After all, Harry would leave two weeks earlier than anyone had hoped. And that Monday…

That Monday he could go to the Quidditch World Cup. It was a dream come true…literally.

After some rousing games of Quidditch at the Burrow, and restful night of sleep, although a short one, Harry woke up to Mrs. Weasley's frenzied shaking. The sun was not even above the horizon yet, but he had to get up. With a rush out of the house, Hermione, Harry, and all of the Weasleys except for Mrs. Weasley made their way through the countryside.

"Harry, do you think I look Muggle enough?" asked George. He did look like a Muggle, just with a very bad fashion sense. Harry didn't really care though. He was still tired. Too tired to think.

"Of course you do," said Harry with a yawn. Hermione rolled her eyes.

"Personally, I'm ecstatic that we get to witness such an event," said Hermione. Everyone stared at her for a moment, mad at her for trying to start a conversation. They were still sleepy. Mr. Weasley seemed fairly enthused, however.

"Yes, it's history in the making," he commented. "First time in thirty years Britain has gotten to host the event, and you can bet that it will be at least as long before the next British cup. Should be exciting."

"Bulgaria versus Ireland—it should be interesting," remarked Fred. "Ireland's a great team, but Bulgaria's got Krum."

"What's a Krum?" asked Hermione. Fred, Ron, and George glared at her. "Or should I say who?" she corrected, trying to avoid their wrath. Harry had no idea who it was either, he was just glad Hermione had asked instead of him.

"Just the best Seeker in the league!" said Ron. "Really Hermione, you should put down the books once and a while and just have fun like the rest of us!"

"What do you call this?" asked Hermione. "Some school related outing? It's not academic! It's purely extracurricular!"

"Not for you, Hermione. You do have your Ancient Runes book with you," said Harry.

"That's a challenging class! I have to be prepared when we start school in _just_ two weeks. It's not my fault that I like being prepared for class, unlike you two," said Hermione with a huff.

"It's summertime Hermione, a time for relaxation, and forgetting about school," said Ron.

"But I have to be ready for school," said Hermione.

"But that's it, sometimes you just have to relax. You can't bring your books with you everywhere," remarked Ron.

"Watch me," said Hermione.

"I have, and that's why you need to relax," said Ron.

"This is how I relax," said Hermione, putting her hands on her hips.

"Is Ancient Runes really that enthralling?" asked Harry.

"Yes!" replied Hermione.

"Wow," commented Fred and George.

"No wonder has no idea who the bloody hell Victor Krum is," said Fred.

"Yeah, if I were her, I wouldn't know anything about Quidditch," said George.

"I do know a few things about the game, like the Snitch…" Hermione trailed off.

"Scratch that. I'd know one thing about Quidditch. But otherwise, I'd be Quidditchless," said George. "What a pitiful existence that would be."

"Hey—" said Hermione, but she was interrupted before she could finish.

"As amusing as your little argument is, I think we should be civil when our company arrives. We have arrived." said Mr. Weasley, turning around as he reached the top of the hill.

"Where exactly are we?" whispered Harry to Ron. The twins overheard him.

"The Portkey," said George.

"The port what?" asked Harry.

"The Portkey, it'll take us to the World Cup," said Fred. "What, did you think this was it?"

"No, not exactly," said Harry.

"Believe me, you'll know when you're there," said Fred.

"Yeah, it's mighty hard to miss," remarked George.

"Ah finally Amos, I was getting worried!" said Mr. Weasley. Harry stood still, wondering whom this person was exactly. Mr. Weasley shook the hand of a tall, middle aged man, with round glasses and light brown hair with a tinge of gray. Harry could swear that he had seen the man somewhere before. He looked so familiar. Like someone else Harry knew.

"Everyone, this is Mr. Diggory," introduced Mr. Weasley. "He works at the Ministry as well."

Harry could swear that he had heard the name before, but where? Where had he heard that name?

"You probably already know my son, Cedric," said Mr. Diggory. Cedric had just walked up the hill and flashed everyone a smile.

Everything instantly made sense to Harry, as he looked at the tall, handsome man that was Cedric. Harry felt something within him stir, something deep, something innate, something almost instinctive. But that went away after Mr. Weasley introduced them all.

"Dad, we have to get going. The Knight Bus is coming soon," said Cedric. His father looked pretty anxious.

"Knight Bus?" asked Harry. "I thought we were taking the Portkey!"

"Oh no, didn't you hear? The Portkey was canceled. We got an owl from the ministry a while back informing us of the change," said Mr. Diggory. "And we better get going. The Knight Bus should be arriving down on Western McDurn Avenue in about five minutes."

"What?" asked Mr. Weasley.

"McDurn Avenue, the road down in the Muggle Village. We have to be there for the Knight Bus, " said Mr. Diggory.

"Oh dear, five minutes? But it's so far. We really should get going," said Mr. Weasley.

The Diggorys led the way down the hill's tall green grass, through a few Muggle's backyards, past an empty playground, and into the Muggle town. Thankfully, none of the Muggles were up to see the interestingly dressed people walking through the town at this most unreasonable hour.

"What I don't understand," said Mr. Weasley, "Is why we never got the letter."

"Um, about that," said Hermione. "The other day, when some stray gray owl stopped by the house, Crookshanks got a little excited. And in the excitement, hissed at the owl and _accidentally_ scratched the wing. I don't think the owl was able to drop off the letter before it had to flew away because it was too frightened to play. Crookshanks may have been a little mad, but those vicious garden gnomes had just annoyed her. She was just taking her anger out in the wrong way."

"Hermione, can you at least _admit_ that Crookshanks did something wrong, even if he never ate Scabbers" said Ron.

"Well, he didn't do anything _bad_, per se. He was just trying to—"

"Hermione, be realistic," said Ron.

"Okay, so Crookshanks made a _tiny_ mistake. I still think he's a sly cat," said Hermione. Harry laughed.

"Next time just tell us what happened, for goodness sake," said Mr. Weasley. "Wouldn't want to miss the World Cup. Luckily for us, the Diggorys came by." Hermione blushed in embarrassment. She had come extraordinarily close to ruining everyone's day, and their chance to see the only British Cup in about forty years.

They had finally reached the street, and peered down the deserted road. But within a few seconds, a rumbling sound in the distance broke the crystal silence.

Bright yellow lights came into view as the towering Knight Bus rounded the corner, blinding the group momentarily. It stopped right in front of them, sending a screech that sounded throughout the surrounding neighborhood. Thankfully, the Muggles couldn't hear the infernal noise, otherwise the lights in their homes surely would have instantly lit.

Stan Shunpike stood at the door to the Knight Bus, looking down at the group of people. "Uh-oh Ern, I don't know how we're going to fit this load onto the bus. The Ministry really has to get their system in order." He looked down at them expectantly.

" Well, come on! Enough lolly-gagging! We've got a schedule to keep up for the Cup! Don't want to miss it now, do you?" said Stan. "Now, do try to find somewhere comfortable. I'm sure there's somewhere for you to go among this mass of people."

Harry and Cedric were the last two to squish their way onto the bus. Although there were a lot of people standing up, there were a couple of seats open. With the rest of their party out of sight, lost in the crowd of people, the two decided to sit together, as opposed to being alone amongst complete strangers. When they sat down next to each other, Harry couldn't help but smile. And he couldn't help but notice that Cedric was smiling too.

They had taken the only available seats next to each other, which happened to be right next to where Stan was standing. Perhaps this proximity to the interesting person that was Stan was the reason why the area was completely vacant. Not that the two of them minded having Stan nearby. It just made their lives more—interesting.

"So Harry, looking forward to the Cup?" asked Cedric.

"Yeah," said Harry. "What about you?"

"I couldn't stop thinking about it all summer. It's not every year that England plays host to the Quidditch World Cup," said Cedric.

"So I've heard," said Harry, grinning. He gazed out the window to see the countryside whizzing by, colors mixing, the light beginning to emerge, beginning to lighten the dark scene shades of green and blue. Stan couldn't help but butt into the conversation.

"You know, the cup is even better to watch when you have someone to share it with," said Stan smiling at Cedric.

"So, why does a good-looking lad like yourself not have a girlfriend to go see the World Cup with? I'm sure a lot of your friends do," said Stan as he looked at Cedric. Harry saw Cedric's cheeks flush to a rosy pink. Could the person who Harry saw as perfect actually be embarrassed?

"Haven't really—gotten around—to it," said Cedric, trying to string a few words together. "I have other things on my mind." Stan looked at him for a second, as though studying him, then went to the door to let the next group of people on the bus.

"So Harry, do you have any girls that you're going to meet up with?" asked Cedric.

"Well—er—no," said Harry. "I, yeah, have other things on my mind."

"Like what?" asked Cedric.

And that question stumped Harry. Sure he worried about Quidditch, but what else was on his mind. Soon enough, he would figure everything out.

Except for Cedric, that is.

_A/N_: Sorry, I had to cut it off there, otherwise I would have made the chapter too long. I hope you guys liked it, I really tried to make it believable and follow the same sort of plot the book did. But it would have been too long if I included of the initial plot, so I only included the relevant stuff. Got everything moving pretty quickly, which is good. So please review if you would like me to update soon. Oh and yeah, my beta and I re-formatted the chapter so that it was a bit more different from the book. I hope you like it.

_Another A/N_: **Want more chapters sooner? Please Review!**


	3. Chapter 2: The World Cup

_Disclaimer: _This is based upon J.K. Rowling's series of novels, Harry Potter, mostly drawing from the _Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire_.

_A/N_: These first few chapters are really important to build up so that we can have some fun with the plot later, and believe me, fun we will have. So, if you're reading and you want an update soon, please review. It makes me happy enough to get off of my butt, or in the case of writing, on it, and want to make you guys another chapter. So Review Please!

Chapter 2: The World Cup 

The two really hit it off on the bus, conversing for quite some time. They talked about Quidditch, about friends, about school, about…everything. They felt as though they had known each other for a long time, like they could just tell each other everything, as though they both completely understood the other.

But there had been one abrupt stop in the conversation. Their eyes had met for longer then a stray second, and Cedric's voice was instantly cut off. Harry gazed into Cedric's eyes.

Silver. Silver eyes.

Something familiar. Something he'd seen before. But he couldn't think.

All Harry could do was gaze into the eyes. Gaze and get lost. He looked into the silver and his eyes locked. The world stopped. All that was on the deafeningly noisy, crowded bus was Harry and Cedric, all that mattered was them. All that Harry cared about was Cedric and himself. Not Hermione, not Ginny…

But Stan said something.

Time started.

His trance was broken. Everyone else, everything else, reality, came back.

"So, what were we talking about?" asked Cedric, breaking away his eyes from Harry's.

"The segregation of people due to their individual house's pride," said Harry, sighing.

"Oh yeah," said Cedric, everything coming back to him.

"If people connect, it shouldn't matter what House they're in. Screw their bloody house. What matters is their friendship—or love," said Cedric. Harry nodded his head in agreement.

"I think it's mostly Slytherin, though," said Harry. "They're so cruel to all of the other houses."

"True, Slytherin's cruel, but I think the rest of us play a role in the inter-house rivalry. And in the end, it ends up separating us all, preventing friendships from forming, preventing—love," said Cedric, almost introspectively. Harry nodded in agreement.

Before they could continue, Stan interrupted.

"Everybody off, we're here at Site E-Ether," said Stan. "No loitering, under punishment of the Ministry. We're on a schedule people. We don't have all day." He watched as everyone stared at him.

"Come on! We really don't have all day! The Cup starts soon," said Stan. At the sound of the word "cup," the crowd of people started moving.

The wizards and witches began to squeeze their way out of the bus, and Harry made his way to the front exit. By the time he reached the doorway, he wasn't even in control of his motion. The crowd was. He was being pushed out of the bus by the mob behind him. It was rather uncomfortable. In fact, he had been sandwiched a bit too snuggly between two hulking brutes of wizards. And as he reached the end of the wall of people, he was pushed out into the open. More like flew out, actually.

He landed safely, but struggled to gain his balance. He stood for a moment, trying to gain a bearing on surroundings. It took him a moment to notice that none of the others were with him. Not Ginny, not Hermione, not—

_CEDRIC!_ Harry thought,

_Where was he?_ _What happened to him?_ _Is he okay? I hope he's okay. Oh God, tell me he's okay_, thought Harry. He started pacing.

_Please, tell me he's okay. Oh my God, what happened?_ Harry gasped. _Was he trampled_, he asked himselfThen Harry really started panicking, as his mind created worse and worse scenarios surrounding Cedric's disappearance.

Thankfully, Harry's worrying was put to rest, as the bus sped away. On the other side of the bus stood Cedric nonchalantly talking with the others. But as Harry's worrying subsided, Harry couldn't help but wonder why he was worrying in the first place. He didn't worry about a man he knew well, but about a boy he only partially knew. This really made Harry wonder. But he didn't have long to think.

"There he is!" said Cedric as he spotted Harry. He walked over to Harry, his eyes sparkling and a smile spread across his handsome face.

"Where were you guys?" asked Harry. As the others approached him, Cedric brushed up against his skin. Harry _loved_ the feeling of Cedric's skin.

_Loved?_ thought Harry, _Did I really like touching a guy that much?_ he thought. But he didn't worry about that. He worried about making a fool of himself in front of Cedric.

"You know there's another exit on the bus, Harry. We just went out the back," said Cedric, his silver eyes gleaming in the rising sun.

"Next time I'd like to stick with my broom. That made me a little sick. The scenery whizzing by, and that smell," said Harry as they started walking towards the campsite.

"Was it me?" said Cedric perceptively.

"Oh no, I think it was Stan. He smelled awful," said Harry.

"Yeah," said Cedric. "So you really would rather use your broom?"

"Definitely. It's much more scenic. Plus I like flying. Good practice, too."

"True, but it's so slow. I think I'd do apparition. Splinching and all."

"Splinching?" asked Harry as he began to walk to the campsite.

"Ah, novice at apparition?" Cedric smiled. "But I shouldn't expect expertise—you're not even of age yet! Splinching, hmm, how to describe it nicely? It's—it's basically splitting yourself in half. It's pretty nasty, " said Cedric.

There was a pause. Harry tried to keep the conversation going. Although he was nervous, he talked because he dearly wanted to talk with Cedric longer.

"You know, you never told me who you're rooting for in the big match." Harry said.

"Ireland," said Cedric, "They'll win, I'm sure of it. Their team's just too good. What about you?"

"Probably Ireland," said Harry. He was about to add, 'because you are,' because that was the truth, but it would probably sound a bit—_gay_. But he couldn't worry about that now, he was enjoying talking too much to care.

"Yeah, Ireland's a great team. Bulgaria's only here because of Krum though. They really shouldn't be here considering the caliber of the rest of their players. The team doesn't even work that well together. But he's the best Seeker in the world, so…"

"Cedric, come on! We've got to get going!" yelled Mr. Diggory. Cedric looked slightly glum, as did Harry. But before he went, Cedric thought of something.

"Hey, do you want to talk later, I mean if you're not busy or anything. We really have never gotten to talk and…" Cedric would have kept babbling, but Harry cut him off.

"I'd love to," said Harry.

_SHIT! I did not just say I'd love to! I really do sound gay, oh no, he's going to hate me now, no, no…_

"Great! I'll meet you by your tent then, just a little bit after the match?"

_Did he just say "great?" He did! Thank you, thank you, thank you, _thought Harry.

"Sure, why not." Harry answered. "Um, I think you should go, your dad looks pretty angry," said Harry. Cedric smiled.

"Yeah, he tends to do that. I better go. See ya later!" Cedric called out as he ran away.

"Most definitely!" replied Harry.

As Cedric walked away, Harry couldn't help but feel happy.

Cedric had just asked him if he would like to spend time with him. It was too good to be true. But first, Harry had to think things over.

Like the fact that he was gay.

Yeah, that would definitely take some thinking. First of all, hadn't he always liked girls? I mean, he had noticed them and fancied them, hadn't he? Hadn't he wanted to be with them?

_But not in that way_, he thought. Sure, he liked girls, they were nice people and all, but they weren't what he was looking for. He could love them; he did love Hermione after all, but as a close friend. But this was another type of love, almost a lust, it was what satisfied his urges, made him feel complete. Like he said on the Knight Bus, he had other things on his mind. And they weren't girls. Sure, he had liked girls, admired them even, but he had never been attracted. He had fancied them, but he hadn't felt as though they were _hot_.

Cedric, he was a different story. He was tall and handsome. His soft brown hair complemented his cute face, and then there was his beautiful, wonderful silver eyes, the cute blush in his cheeks, his toned body—everything. Cedric simply took his breath away. Every time Harry glanced at him, Harry felt butterflies fly into his stomach. He felt his breathing falter. But to Harry, girls weren't like that. They weren't cute, or extraordinarily beautiful. And they certainly didn't do what Cedric did, or ever could, in Harry's mind. They may have been pretty or dainty, but Harry didn't want to be really close to them. Harry wanted that with Cedric. He wanted to be close to him, to his toned body, to smell him, to do maybe more than that.

_More? _thought Harry_. Isn't that a little fast? I may not be gay, you know,_ but another voice in his head told him otherwise.

_Not now_, Harry's mind replied. But still, he couldn't help but wonder how much he cared about Cedric. True, he didn't know Cedric very well, but something about him, how he talked with Harry, something just clicked between the two of them like potions—er, chemistry, they had chemistry. He couldn't help but feel attracted to Cedric, or worry about his safety. Even after only talking for a short time, after only a Quidditch match, Harry seemed to care about Cedric. When Cedric hadn't gotten off the Knight Bus and had potentially been trampled by the mob, Harry had panicked.

_You know, you have to care about someone to worry about them that much_, said the little voice in the back of his head. He knew that this was probably true. Scratch that, it _was_ true. He was interested in Cedric and was starting to care for him.

_You're gay_, said the voice.

_I'm not gay!_ he thought, fighting the voice.

_Homophobe_, said the voice.

_Now you're calling me names? Be civil!_ Harry told himself.

_But you are being one. You're being homophobic._

_Stop that!_ fought Harry.

_Homophobe!_

_I am not being a homophobe! I just don't want to jump to conclusions. I mean, I may not be gay. I don't want to have to go through something if I'm not actually it. Makes no sense. Being gay can be really hard sometimes because a lot of people are just assholes and don't understand it, _thought Harry

_True_, said the voice. _But still._

An image appeared in his head.

Silver. Silver eyes.

They shimmered in the shining sunlight.

Something clicked.

The forgotten piece of the dream. The Quidditch match, the other player! It had finally come back to him. He couldn't help but smile.

It had been him! It had been Cedric he was dreaming about, that made him so happy, that made him want to go back to bed to sleep, to dream more, hopefully about _him_.

The little voice piped up, _I told you so_. Harry shrugged, thinking for a moment as he continued to walk, catching up to the group.

_Okay, so fine, I'm gay. Great. A life of overcoming homophobic people, some of whom will never be accepting. But also… Cedric_. That would make it all worth it.

He saw Ron up ahead of him, his red hair bouncing as he walked beside Hermione. Ron...

Even if Ron wouldn't accept him, even if some people would shun him—if he could just have someone love him, Cedric love him, people love him for who he was, he knew he would be okay with it. It was part of him, he couldn't change that, and he wouldn't want to change it, because that would change who he was.

With things finally under control, Harry at least beginning to better understand who he was, he caught up to the group.

"Hey Harry, where were you?" asked Hermione.

"Just…thinking," answered Harry. Hermione looked at him for a moment, doing some thinking of her own. She nodded her head.

"So, looking forward to the game Harry?" asked Ron.

"Yeah, I've never seen this many wizards together before," remarked Harry. They had reached some sort of kiosk or cabin.

"Harry, is this a five? I have to pay the muggle for letting us stay here and I don't know…"said Mr. Weasley.

"Actually, it's a twenty, _that's _a five, see the numbers?" said Harry.

"Are you foreign?" asked the Muggle, a few feet away at a desk, "You know, you're not the first people today to have trouble with money. Someone tried to give me these huge gold coins. Seems like some sort of creepy gathering."

_Pop._

"_Obliviate!_" said the Ministry staff man. He sighed as he watched the Muggle's eyes glaze over. "That's the third time today we've had to erase this one's memory…"

"What a pity…" said Mr. Weasley.

But even with the Muggle's tragic loss of memory, Harry was happy. He could care less of what had just occurred, of what was the present. He couldn't help but look forward to the match, and what lay after it.

Harry peered through his omnoculars, watching Krum maneuver around the field. For a moment, it looked as though Krum had seen the Snitch as he dived down, going faster, faster. The Irish Seeker followed close behind, miming Krum's movements. The crowd reached a crescendo, both sides cheering endlessly. Then half the field quieted abruptly as a gasp arose. As Krum pulled out of the dive…

_Crash!_ A loud sigh arose from the Irish side as a time out was called. Krum had out maneuvered their Seeker. The Bulgaria supporters simply roared. But with the Irish chasers keeping up a tough offense, the Irish pulled ahead, to the point where Bulgaria had no hope of winning. So he ended it.

Krum caught the snitch, ending the game, but losing the match. Fred and George, who had bet upon such an event, cried out for joy. Harry couldn't help but feel happy too. Ireland had won.

That would mean that Cedric was happy too, and that meant a lot to Harry. He wanted Cedric to be happy. As people began to leave the stands, Harry practically ran with Hermione and Ron back to the tent, eager for the night ahead with Cedric.

Finally, some alone time to get to know him, to maybe do something more than just get to know him. Hermione noticed how particularly upbeat Harry was as he ran into his room to change. She stood outside.

"Why are you so happy?" asked Hermione. Harry had to think of an answer, and quick.

"Because Ireland won Hermione! Do you have any idea how big this is?" Harry asked.

"Well, I guess it is pretty big, but I thought it was… you know what, never mind. You're right. It's pretty big. Have fun celebrating tonight. I don't think I can stay up too long, I'm pretty tired myself. Woke up too early, even for me. Might do some reading before bed though," Hermione said. Harry was not the least bit surprised at Hermione and smiled. He yawned as he waved to Hermione and walked outside. Sure, he was a little tired. But still, he was excited— he would get to see Cedric!

He stood there, waiting patiently as the people around him celebrated.

Two hours later, no one had come.

Harry felt a tear slide down his cheek. He felt no need to celebrate.

_A/N: _Okay, I thought that went pretty well, after all, it's necessary so that we can get to the fun parts later. Yay! But, there is one little detail that I am changing. I'll mention it later, probably in the next chapter. I can't condone Harry and Cedric being together if Harry is only 14. So I'm moving Harry's birthday to back a year, so that he's 15 instead of 14. That way, it won't be statutory rape between Cedric and Harry. So, Harry will be old for his age… errr, well, you know what I mean. Older than we're used to him being. Otherwise… Please review! I love feedback and it spurs me on to write more. Support means a lot to me. So that's about all. Until the next installment.

Another A/N: **Want more chapters sooner? Please Review. **


	4. Chapter 3: The Night of Fear

_Disclaimer: _This is based upon J.K. Rowling's series of novels, Harry Potter, mostly drawing from the _Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire_.

_A/N_: It's time for another update. I caught the writing bug and must write. Please review, it helps me catch the writing bug faster… And I hope you enjoy the chapter! And Thank You guys for writing all of the positive reviews! I love them. In answer to a fairly recent review, I'm sorry, the only good stories with Cedric/Harry are the few out of the many on fanfiction. Like I said earlier, this genre of fanfiction is lacking. And for your first question, you'll just have to read to find out! -

**Chapter 3: The Night of Fear**

Harry couldn't believe that he had actually believed Cedric. He felt so used, so stupid for thinking that Mr. Perfect Cedric would ever want to spend time with a little wretch like him. He knew it made no sense. He knew that no one like Cedric would, in his right mind, talk to Harry. He knew he shouldn't have hoped, but he had anyway.

For a few brief moments, he had felt a genuine happiness for the first time in a long time. But he shouldn't have hoped so much, opening himself up to this—pain, this heartache. Although he didn't know Cedric very well, he wanted to, he dearly wanted to. He wanted someone to love, someone who would love him back, but he had proven to himself once more how hard it was to love himself. As he gave up waiting for Cedric, and went back inside the quiet tent, feeling an immense sadness.

The tears started pouring out his glistening green gemstone eyes, flowing down his pale cheeks. He thought no one was there to see him, but someone was.

Hermione had been studying for Ancient Runes, and was sitting quietly in the main room of the tent. She felt bad for Harry, seeing him cry so much, and allowed her curiosity to get the best of her.

"Harry, what's wrong?" asked Hermione, her eyes gazing at Harry. Harry's eyes darted in her direction, he felt exposed, his innermost feelings on stage for all the world to see.

"N-nothing Hermione. I'm fine. Sh-shouldn't you be in bed?" said Harry, continuing to walk towards his room.

"I got caught up in this book," replied Hermione, snapping her book shut, sending a rather large dust cloud high into the air.

"Harry, come back here!" beckoned Hermione, "I know you're hiding something. You're crying—you've always worn your emotions on the sleeve of your robe. You know that you can tell, Harry. Absolutely anything. I'm you're friend and I'd like to help. Let me." Hermione's offer was beyond kind, but could Harry handle telling Hermione about—about—everything, right now of all times? He had just come out to himself, he knew it was a little soon tell others.

_But this is Hermione_, he thought, _and she will love me no matter what_. But even with that in mind, Harry couldn't tell her. Not yet anyway. It was too soon for that. So he lied, as much as it hurt him too.

"Really, Hermione, it's nothing," answered Harry, trying to wipe away a tear. "I just fell and practically broke my arm. Don't worry, it's nothing."

Hermione looked at him, thinking. "Can I look at where you fell? It could be—"

"No, it's fine. I've taken care of it," said Harry, cutting Hermione off.

"Oh, I see," she said. Those words hit Harry like a bullet. Hermione had seen through him, seen through his veneer of shallow lies. But he couldn't tell now. Not now, not so soon.

"I-I have to go," he said, rushing into the guy's room.

"Okay. Well, I hope you fell better!" she said.

Harry could feel the guilt weighing down his soul, and the sorrow inundating his face. He fell down on the bed, feeling the tears recommence. He lay restlessly on the covers. He couldn't fall asleep like this.

So he lay and though, his mind deep in turmoil over the pain, the hurt, and the sorrow.

Cedric raced through the woods, trying desperately to get to Harry as soon as possible. He felt awful for being this late, even though it wasn't his fault.

It had been his father, of course. His father had kept him for so long, showing him off to all of his friends at the Ministry, telling them all how wonderful his son was. And of course, everyone ate it up, smiling at the amazing Cedric.

Sometimes, Cedric felt like his father was too proud of him. He knew his father could be too proud, especially when he took hours to do things like this. But moreover, he knew his father could be too proud of him because—

The crashing of a falling tree branch interrupted his thoughts. He initially thought nothing of it and kept running. By now, he had ran out into the open campsite.

But when he heard screams in the distance, fear rose in him. He paused for a second, and then he ran.

Harry heard the screams and jumped of bed. He tried to shake Ron awake, and after a few growls and grumbles, Ron's eyes finally opened.

"Wha-what is it?" asked Ron, rubbing his eyes.

"_Listen_," said Harry.

Ron's drowsy eyes widened in fear.

"Where's that coming from?" asked Ron.

"Outside," said Harry. "Come on, we've got to go?"

"Why?" asked Ron. "Why aren't we safe here?"

"Do you really—just, let's get to others," said Harry. Ron jumped out of a bed reluctantly. He threw on a jacket on the two were out in the middle of the tent, where they met a panicking Hermione with the rest of the Weasleys.

"We were just about to get you up," said Mr. Weasley, with lines of worry etched on his face, "but figured no one could sleep through the apocalypse occurring outside." Apparently, he had forgotten about Ron, who could sleep through _anything_.

"We've got to go," said Hermione, anxious to get out of harm's way.

"Yes, you guys get outside, and into the woods, and above all, stick together. I've got to go help the Ministry sort this out!" he said as he left the tent, leaving the terrified group alone. Needless to say, that didn't help their terror.

Hermione took the lead. "Well, you heard him," she said, looking at the others. "Let's go!" Once the opened the flap of the tent, the screams intensified, ringing in their ears. Hermione didn't let the screams scare her and was the first outside.

Hermione led Harry, Ron, and Ginny running towards the woods, the screams from wizards and witches increasing in intensity every minute. Harry couldn't help but notice the throng of people approaching from the center of the camp. He glanced upwards towards the sky only to see a few people flying around. After a bright green flash, Harry saw something. He knew who one of the people was.

"It's the Muggle! The one who was running the campsite!" Harry said.

"And most likely his family," said Hermione, looking over her shoulder.

"That's sick," said Ron, as he watched the group turn the women over, exposing her undergarments. She struggled to keep her dress down.

They heard a laugh.

"That's right, they're after Muggles and people like you, Granger," drawled a voice from the edge of the woods.

"Shove it, Malfoy," said Harry, walking towards the woods.

"Wouldn't want her to be spotted, now would we?" asked Draco

"What are you talking about?" asked Ron.

"They're after all Muggles, if you think that they can't spot a Mudblood like Granger, then stay here."

"Watch it," said Ron angrily.

"Never mind, Ron, let's just keep moving. It'll be safer for all of us in the woods," said Hermione.

"Right," said Harry, moving past Malfoy and past the barrier of trees. As the rest of the group followed, they all heard Malfoy laugh, but none of them took notice. They just kept moving, deeper into the forest, through the thicket.

After a few minutes of running through the dense undergrowth, Harry realized that he had lost everything, from his friends to his wand. He rested against a tree, trying to gain back his breath. But he couldn't rest with so much fear in the air. The screams reached even to that remote location.

He breathed deeply, closing his eyes for a second, thinking. He could swear he heard someone call his name.

"Harry!" he heard in the distance. He though it was in his mind, but then he heard it again.

"Harry!" someone called, approaching him. Harry had to answer, it could be Hermione or Ron.

"I'm over here," he called out, standing back up so that he was in sight of whoever the person was.

After a moment, he realized that it wasn't Ron or Hermione who was running towards him.

_His voice is too deep to be Hermione's and—he's much too tall to be either of them_, he thought. For a moment, he panicked. He wished that he had his wand with him, so that he could see to better ascertain exactly who was there. The other person read his mind.

"_Lumos_," the person said.

"Cedric?" cried Harry in disbelief.

"Y-yeah," he panted, looking at Harry.

"How did you find me here?" asked Harry.

"I was on my way to your tent when I heard the screams all over camp. That's when I started sprinting. And I ran into Mr. Weasley. He told me that you went for the woods, so I—" Cedric tried to catch his breath. "So I ran after you into the woods. I don't know how exactly I found you in here, I just ran."

"Well, I'm glad you found me. I've got no idea where I am," said Harry.

"Yeah, I wish I could be more help, but I don't know either. Too busy running to catch up to you," said Cedric, his breathing still heavy. For a moment, Harry forgot that he was mad at Cedric, because it was, well, Cedric. But even so, Harry couldn't help but feel stood up.

"So where were you?" he asked bluntly.

"Harry, I'm sorry, I—" Harry cut him off.

"Sorry really doesn't cut it. You had me waiting aimlessly for hours. I thought you'd come to talk to me. I was actually looking forward to it! You know, some people would consider that mean, telling one person one thing then doing another," said Harry. He was trying his best not to sound too clingy or blatant about his feelings, but was only doing so-so. Harry saw Cedric's eyes bright silver eyes dim slightly.

"I-I'm so sorry. I was really looking forward to talking to you about Quidditch, about a lot of things. I'm really sorry that I didn't show up. It was my father. He kept me, making me talk to all of his Ministry friends. I tried to get away, but he kept a close watch on me. So when I did manage to break free, I ran, trying to catch you before you went to bed," said Cedric.

Harry was tempted to believe him. He had seen how Cedric's father treated him earlier that day. And the cadence in his voice—but still!

"Well, you failed, I went to bed ages ago," said Harry heatedly.

"I know I did, and I wish I could have gotten to you ages ago. I'm sorry," said Cedric.

"At least it wasn't you fault," said Harry. "I mean, you're probably too kind, apologizing for it. It was nice of you to rush to get to me, then try to find me. Really nice. So you really shouldn't feel bad." Cedric's eyes instantly lit up, brightening the rest of his face. His cheeks flushed a slight red. Harry would swear that Cedric was _embarrassed_.

"Good," said Cedric. His eyes looking down and into Harry's. For a moment, they were all that mattered in the world. And they peered into each other's eyes, getting a glance at the other's soul. But Cedric looked away.

"So," he said, feeling awkward, "what'd you think of the Quidditch match?" It took a second for this to register with Harry.

"It-it was pretty good. Most elaborate match that I've ever seen. Most wizards and witches I've ever seen, too. Didn't know that that many of us existing. It was amazing," said Harry.

"Yeah," said Cedric, "It was pretty amazing."

_But not as amazing as you_, Harry thought. There was a pause. Silence. Except for the fact that there could be no silence with the approaching screams.

"We better get moving," said Cedric. "Those screams sound like they're getting closer."

"Yeah, good idea. But where to?" asked Harry.

"No idea. How about further into the woods," said Cedric. "Follow me," he said as he began to jog. Cedric's wand dimmed as they kept moving deeper into the forest.

Harry followed close behind him. He was not eager to get separated again. They ran in silence for a couple of minutes, the frightened screams fading, fading until they heard someone shriek nearby. A person ran right into Harry. The first thing Harry noticed was her hair.

"_Hermione_?" asked Harry.

"Oh Harry! We were wondering what happened to you! I'm so glad that you're safe!" she cried, gasping for breath.

"I think the better question is what happened to you," said Cedric. Hermione squeaked in surprise.

"_Lumos_," said Hermione, eager to know who said that. Upon seeing him, she started, " Oh, Cedric, it's you. What're you doing here?" asked Hermione.

"I was on my way to talk to Harry when I heard the ruckus going on at the campsite. So I raced into the woods and that's where I ran into him," said Cedric.

"Yeah, I was pretty lost," said Harry.

"It appears as though you still are," said Hermione. "Do you have any idea where we are?"

"Not really," said Harry. "We were just trying to run away from the screams. But Hermione, what happened to you? You're a mess." Hermione looked as though she had just run through Hell and back. Her garments looked ripped at the edges, her robe had a large tear in the center, her knees were scraped, her face was horribly scratched, and there was a rather large twig sticking out of her hair.

"Well, I sort of tripped and the others were too busy fleeing the screams to notice," she sighed. "So I've been wandering aimlessly for a while now."

"You know you have a twig in your hair, right?" asked Cedric. Hermione blushed and quickly ripped the twig from her hair, causing herself a great deal of pain. Cedric smirked.

"And your shriek?" asked Cedric. Hermione blushed more deeply.

"I thought that someone was after me," she said. "I heard footsteps nearby."

"Oh, that makes sense," said Cedric. "I probably would have been scared too." Hermione beamed when he said this.

Then they all paused for a moment, and listened. They heard someone scream nearby. Hermione looked flustered.

"We better move," she said. "_Nox_." Her wand dimmed as she turned away.

"Good idea," said Harry, as they proceeded further into the woods. Soon enough, they reached a clearing. They stopped for a moment. They heard footsteps close to them, near the edges of the clearing. Fear rang high in the air, but they kept their cool.

"Hello?" said Harry.

The footsteps stopped immediately. They heard a voice unlike any that they had heard that night, without fear, without anger, a voice that uttered what sounded like a spell.

"_MORSMERDRE_!"

They stood there, unmoving, unable to move at all.

"Oh my God," said Cedric, looking up into the sky. Rising out of the treetops was a green skull shaped out of flashing green emeralds. Protruding from what appeared to be a fearful toothless mouth was a huge, malicious green serpent that hissed. As the three watched in awe, the skull rose higher into the sky, the formation morphing into what looked like an eerie green constellation, bathing the earth in its green glow. Harry could tell that this was not a good sign at all. He looked at Hermione, startled to see her face so white, so afraid.

"Hermione, what is it?" he asked.

"It's the dark mark! His mark!" she said, terrified.

"_Voldemort's_—?"

"We have to move," said Cedric. Hermione pulled Harry by the collar, eager to get out of the area. They did not want to stick around to see what happened. They ran as for their lives.

_A/N: _Originally, this chapter continued for much longer, but it became wayyyy too long. I had to split up the chapter into two, probably to your chagrin. Oh, and it was supposed to be out sooner, but my Beta didn't have time. But don't worry. The next chapter will be out soon enough. Even sooner if I get some good reviews, eh? So tell me what you think of the story so far. Give me some suggestions, or even tell me if you would like something to happen. I have the plot pretty much planned so far, but if you have some ideas, I am open. I hope you enjoyed the chapter! And until next time!

_Second A/N: _**Want More Chapters Sooner? Review!**


	5. Chapter 4: Farewell For Now

_Disclaimer: _This is based upon J.K. Rowling's series of novels, Harry Potter, mostly drawing from the _Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire_.

_A/N_: Okay, I couldn't stop writing. This chapter goes well with the last one because of such… Hopefully, you liked the last chapter and the story so far, because things are just beginning to heat up. Action is going to be rampant, along with other elements of this story. My mind is anxious to give you my Goblet. So, enough babbling. I am sure you want to read the next chapter. So here you go!

Chapter 4: Farewell For Now 

_P-p-p-p-p-p-pop_!

Hermione, Harry and Cedric stopped running immediately. They stood in the center of the clearing, having no idea what had just happened.

It took them a moment to realize that a league of people had just Apparated into the clearing, their wands all pointed at the three teenagers. Harry took command. He pulled Cedric and Hermione down to the ground.

"_STUPEFY_!" roared the group of people. Jets of fiery red light flew across the clearing, lighting the clearing as though it were mid-day. It looked as though the trees, the grass, the air— all of it, was on fire, burning perpetually. But the air around them was still cool with the crisp night. The air—

The immense amount of spellwork even disturbed the air. The hair on the group's heads rippled as an unnatural wind flowed through the clearing. Chaos reigned. Harry felt a stray spell graze his cheek.

_Thump._

The three heard something or someone fall. The red light continued to shine brilliantly. Harry looked into Cedric's eyes and gasped at the beauty, the gray shining in the red light—

His was interrupted by another fall.

_Thump._

They definitely heard something fall to the ground this time, although it was distant. But the spells continued, until—

"Stop! That's my son!" someone cried out. The red light faded into black darkness with a tinge of green. The green constellation still shone fairly brightly above in the sky. The three looked at each other. None of them had been hit. But it had been exceedingly close.

"_Dad_?" asked Cedric incredulously.

"Yes son, it's me," he said. "It's good to know that you're safe. But what're you doing here, here under _tha_t?" Mr. Diggory's face was white as he peered up at the Dark Mark.

"We were running from the screams until we heard footsteps nearby, and stopped to investigate," said Cedric. The people, who by now the three had identified as Ministry officials, looked at each other.

"Check the area! Chances are our Stunners hit _something_ in the trees," said Mr. Diggory. The people fanned out into the surrounding woods. It took only a moment.

"I found something!" cried out a shrill, young woman.

She immediately returned into the clearing, holding a tea towel. A tea towel attached to a house-elf. And not just any house-elf.

"Winky?" asked Harry. He remembered the house-elf from earlier at the match. She had been saving Mr. Crouch a seat.

"Let me through!" said a surprised Mr. Crouch, clearly disgusted with the prospect of his own house-elf caught at the scene. He looked down at Winky in detestation.

"But—this—it cannot be," he said jerkily.

"It's a bit embarrassing, finding your own house-elf at the scene of something this awful," said Mr. Diggory.

"You cannot seriously think she could summon the mark? It's a wizard's sign and it requires a wand," asked Mr. Crouch.

"Yeah, and she _had_ a wand," said Mr. Diggory, examining Winky.

"What?" asked Mr. Weasley. Mr. Diggory showed him, and muttered something about a law of magical creatures carrying a wizard's wand being broken.

_Pop._

Ludo Bagman, the head of the department of magical games and sports, appeared at the side of a ghostly white Mr. Crouch.

"Barty where've you been?" Mr. Bagman asked. He looked down at the ground and saw Winky. "And _what_ happened to your elf?"

"She's been stunned," stated Mr. Crouch.

"Stunned? But why—?" asked Bagman. It took a moment for him to fully realize the situation at hand. His eyes widened as comprehension dawned on him.

"No! Winky? Conjure the mark? She couldn't! And even if she could, she'd at least need a _wand_,"

"She had one," said Mr. Diggory. "Perhaps we should stop this hearsay and actually _ask_ the elf herself. _Ennervate_," he cried, his wand pointed at Winky. The elf's stiff body instantly softened as she began to move. Once she regained consciousness, the elf looked quite frightened. She was curled into a ball on the ground, rocking herself back and forth. Cedric couldn't help but feel sorry for her. His father felt differently.

"Elf! Do you know who I am? I'm the head of the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures. Now, tell me, did you conjure that mark?" he asked heatedly, pointing at the dark mark. The excessively nervous Winky looked quite distressed as her rocking increased in speed.

"I is not knowing how to," cried Winky, terribly horrified.

"Wait, I found someone!" called an official from deep within the woods.

"_Levicorpus_!" It took a moment for them to appear. Everyone looked as an old man levitated a young redhead into the clearing.

"Wait! That's _my_ son!" cried out Mr. Weasley. "_Ennervate_!"

Ron fell to the ground.

"Ow!" he said as his head hit the ground. Hard.

"Where am I? Dad? Is that you? What's going on?" asked Ron. "I heard screams and started running towards here."

"It's the Dark Mark," said Mr. Weasley, his face chalk white. He pointed to the sky. Ron looked upwards, and his eyes opened wide in fear.

"So do you think it was him?" asked Mr. Diggory.

"You cannot seriously think it was my son!" said Mr. Weasley. "I've raised enough children to know when there is a bad egg in the bunch, and Ron is not that egg!"

"But there's no denying that he was at the scene of the crime," said Mr. Diggory.

"What did I do?" asked Ron, mystified. "I was just with Ginny and like I said, I heard a ruckus over hear and ran. Then I saw red light…"

"He's telling the truth," said Mr. Weasley.

"But Arthur—" said Mr. Diggory.

"Believe me, he's telling the truth," said Mr. Weasley.

"But then, who else was it?" asked Mr. Crouch desperately.

"Elf, look at me! Did you do this?" asked Mr. Diggory.

"I is not knowing how!" cried Winky, beyond distressed.

"But the wand—" said Mr. Diggory.

"Hey, that's mine," cried Harry, as he finally caught sight of wand beside Winky on the ground. He ran over to pick it up.

"Excuse me?" asked Mr. Diggory.

"That's my wand. I lost it," said Harry.

"You dropped it? Is this a confession? Did you conjure the Dark Mark and then throw the wand into the bushes?" asked Mr. Diggory.

"Dad! This is Harry Potter you're accusing! He wouldn't conjure the Dark Mark— it's _his_ mark! And I was here with him, I know he didn't! Put me under Veritaserum and I'll tell you the same. It wasn't Harry," said Cedric, appalled at his father's accusation.

"But then…" Mr. Diggory looked confused.

He took the wand from Harry for a second, following his intuition.

"_Priori Incantatum_," said Mr. Diggory. Everyone gasped, as a shadow of the Dark Mark appeared. Even though the emeralds didn't flash so, even though it was what made from what seemed to be gray smoke, what it represented, what it was, was just so awful.

"_Deletrius_!" cried Mr. Diggory. He looked accusingly at Winky.

"I is not doing it! I is not be knowing how!" she cried.

"You've been caught at the scene with the wand that did the crime. If that's not condemning evidence, I don't know what is!" cried Mr. Diggory.

"If you're accusing my elf, you're accusing me as well," said Mr. Crouch. "Because the only place where should could have picked it up, learned it, the only place where she ever is, is my house. What, do you think she learned it from me?"

"No, I wasn't saying that," said Mr. Diggory, slightly abashed.

"It couldn't have been Winky," said Cedric, "The voice that we heard was a man's, nothing like what Winky's sounds like."

"Well then it could have been Ron's!" cried Mr. Crouch.

"It wasn't his voice either!" said Cedric. Mr. Diggory looked mad.

"Cedric, stay out of this!" said Mr. Diggory angrily. Cedric's cheeks flushed, he looked embarrassed, slightly abashed. Harry stepped in.

"It couldn't have been Winky though! It wasn't her voice at all. It was deep. It was a man's! And as for Ron's, I know my best mate's voice. It wasn't his. It was calm, it was deep. Ron's distressed, it couldn't have been him," said Harry. Mr. Diggory looked like he was considering this. And, Cedric, Cedric looked at him and smiled. Harry practically melted when he saw Cedric smile. It made him feel fulfilled.

"Elf, where did you find the wand?" asked Mr. Diggory.

"I-I is finding it there, sir… there in the trees…sir" answered Winky, her eyes wide.

"See, Amos? The person who conjured the mark could have left the scene of the crime, and left Harry's wand behind. It would have been quite clever. Instead of using his or her own wand, which would have given them away, they used another's. Quite well thought out. And Winky, the poor soul, came across the wand and picked it up. And the fact that Ron was here was most likely a coincidence as well," said Mr. Weasley. It seemed logical enough.

"See, it probably wasn't her, or Ron," said Cedric. Many of the Ministry officials looked confused.

"But then, the elf might have seen the real culprit!" said Mr. Diggory. He looked at Winky.

"I—is seeing no one, sir," said Winky, trembling uncontrollably.

"Amos, I know it is regulation that you take Winky into your custody, however, I believe that it would be best if I take care of matters," said Mr. Crouch. Winky looked horrified.

"M-m-master—n-n-no!" cried Winky.

"You disobeyed me Winky. I have simple rules for you to follow, but you chose not to. _This means clothes_," he said. Winky started sobbing.

"Not clothes, not clothes!" she shrieked, cowering at Mr. Crouch's feet.

"How could you do this!" cried Hermione. "She was frightened, anyone in their right mind would abandon code and run for their life!" Mr. Crouch shrugged off the harsh criticism and continued to castigate Winky. As Hermione opened her mouth to protest further, Mr. Weasley stepped in.

"I think it's time that we leave," said Mr. Weasley, quietly retreating to the edges of the clearing. "Amos, I'll see you at work." Mr. Diggory nodded carelessly. He was more preoccupied with the mess in front of him than friendly affairs. He was clearly worried, with his normally formal appearance ruined, and ragged. His eyes were struggling to stay open, too— he was tired after the long day. But he had a job to attend to. He started walking away.

"Umm, Mr. Diggory," interjected Harry.

"Yes?" said Mr. Diggory, annoyed. Harry had interrupted him trying to sort out the situation with his staff.

"My wand?" said Harry.

"Oh, of course!" said Mr. Diggory, handing the wand to Harry. "It was nice to meet you Mr. Potter. I'm sorry you had to go through all of this tonight."

"It wasn't that bad. I'm kind of used to it," admitted Harry. Mr. Diggory strained his face to smile.

"Hey, Dad, I'm just going to go walk back to the Weasley's tent while you sort things out. Is that okay?" asked Cedric.

"O-of course," said Mr. Diggory smiling. "I'll have my hands tied for a while. Just don't be back too late."

"Definitely," said Cedric, as he followed the retreating Harry, Hermione, and Mr. Weasley. Mr. Weasley had to help heave Ron up off of the ground.

"So Ron, where's Ginny? You never told us," said Hermione as she waited for Ron to get up.

"She went off with Fred and George," said Ron. "And I walked over here to figure out what that racket was." They all smiled, except for Hermione. She had other matters on her mind.

"Can you believe that?" asked Hermione. "Can you believe how Mr. Crouch treated Winky! The only times he looked at her, he looked at her with disdain. And whenever he addressed her, he called her elf. Not her, not Winky, but what could be considered a derogatory elf…" as Hermione continued to rant, Harry and Cedric stroke up a side conversation.

"It sounds like they got those wizards under control," said Harry. "No more yelling."

"Yeah," said Cedric. "You can actually hear the wildlife."

"It's kind of nice," said Harry.

"Definitely," said Cedric. "I hope nothing like that happens again. It was really scary… for a lot of reasons."

"I know what you mean," replied Harry.

_It was scary. I was scared, for myself and for you, _thought Harry. He hoped Cedric felt the same way.

"Did I ever thank you for finding me in the forest?" asked Harry.

"Not formally, no. But you did say it was nice," said Cedric, almost jokingly.

"Well I meant it. And thank you for finding me. It was pretty hectic in there. Nice to have someone in the forest with you. You know, so you're not alone when those wizards find you," commented Harry.

"You're welcome," said Cedric, smiling at Harry. Harry smiled back, feeling butterflies flying down his throat and into the cage of his stomach. "Well, as long as we're thanking each other, I would like to thank you for sticking up for me in front of my dad. You didn't have to."

"Oh, it was nothing, really. Adults can be like that sometimes though. They like to ignore us, like we don't know anything," said Harry.

_I'm sure that's what people will say to me, too. You're too young. You don't really know about being gay_, thought Harry. But with Cedric grinning at him, it was impossible to become depressed.

"Yeah, sometimes they can be pretty dense. Sometimes my dad can be hilarious, other times embarrassing, and other times just plain annoying," said Cedric.

"Don't take him for granted though," said Harry.

"Oh Harry, I love him loads. I don't take him for granted. And don't be mad at me for bringing him up, it was stupid of me," said Cedric, remembering what happened to Harry's parents.

"It's fine Cedric. I was just being sincere," said Harry. Their conversation paused for a moment and Harry listened to Hermione's tirade. "Can you believe Hermione is still going on about Winky?"

"Yeah, she must really care about magical creatures. I just thought she was some one-dimensional know-it-all," admitted Cedric.

"She can seem like that sometimes, but she's one of the most loving people I know," said Harry. "So she's very multi-dimensional, even if she doesn't get Quidditch."

"She doesn't get Quidditch? Oh gods," said Cedric, feigning fright.

"Yeah. She gets most of it. Just not the details," said Harry.

"That's as good as saying she only knows about the Snitch," said Cedric.

"How did you know?" asked Harry. They broke out laughing, causing the Hermione to glare at them.

"So do you think it's funny that elves have to go through so much just to be free and we are instantly free from birth?" asked Hermione, quite angry at their outbreak. Harry muffled his laughter.

"No, not at all. It was about something else."

"Good," said Hermione, before she continued to conclude her argument.

"Looks like we're almost there," said Harry sadly.

"You sound as though you're disappointed," said Cedric.

_I am. I won't get to see you for who knows how long_, thought Harry. Aloud, he only said, "Yeah well, I don't usually talk to people this much. It's kind of nice."

"Know what you mean," said Cedric with a sigh as they reached the tent. "Guess I better get back to my tent. Don't want my dad to beat me back!"

"Yeah," said Harry, struggling to smile. He watched Cedric turn away. "Bye Ced!"

"Bye you guys," said Cedric, smiling. He waved at them in a regal fashion. It made Harry swoon. As Cedric strode out of sight, Ron started talking.

"I thought he would never leave," said Ron.

"What!" asked Harry, surprised Ron felt this way. He should have known.

"Don't tell me you actually enjoyed talking to Mr. Popular. Harry, he's not the type of person you want to hang out with," said Ron.

"What's that supposed to mean?" asked Harry.

"Nothing," said Ron, surprised at how Harry was reacting. "Let's just get some sleep. It's been a long night."

"Good idea," said Harry, heading inside for their room.

Morning came within what felt like moments, and it was time for them to head home. This time, they took a Portkey back, and it was not an enjoyable experience. By the time they had gotten back to the Burrow, Mrs. Weasley looked worried sick. Literally. He face was a faint green.

"Oh thank goodness you're all right! This morning's newspaper was just awful! Worried me so!" said Mrs. Weasley, taking in as much of her family as she could for a great big hug.

Besides that event, nothing much happened the rest of the summer. There was Quidditch, there was talking, but not much else.

The two weeks sped by as Harry looked forward to going back to school. He looked forward to returning because not only because it was his home, but for another reason.

A recent one.

With silver eyes.

_A/N: _Sorry if there is some discontinuity… my beta and I revamped the past few chapters to make them more original, although they still keep to the story (sorta). I hope that it worked out pretty well. I tried to make it work out. Ah well. Hope you enjoyed this longer than normal chapter! It _should_ be longer than normal at least…And please review!

_Another A/N_: **Want More Chapters Sooner? Please Review!**


	6. Chapter 5: Danger

_Disclaimer: _This is based upon J.K. Rowling's series of novels, Harry Potter, mostly drawing from the _Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire_.

_A/N:_ I can't thank you guys enough for the reviews! I really enjoy them, and truly, they make me want to write more. And if you actually sign in, I can give you a review reply! Isn't that a nice thing? So please review when you're done reading. I love feedback! Hope you like this chapter**** Sorry, this chapter's been done a long time. It's just with seven APs, I've been a tad stressed with all the testing. I've had to drop some things. There will be more updates. Please forgive me for all the time this took to get out. Oh and I **redid** this chapter. It's new and improved! Please **Read and Review!**

**Chapter 5: Danger**

For one more moment, darkness prevailed, with only the stars shining dimly over the countryside. Suddenly, there was a spark. Instantly, light emerged once more, signaling the start of what was sure to be an interesting day.

The Sun slowly peeked over the horizon, its light flowing over the rolling hills of the countryside, the rays jumping over the lush green oaks wavering in the crisp breeze, the leaves dancing in the Sun's light. The sunlight ran past the singing yellow-chested larks and their children in their homely nests, swam over the Weasley's weedy garden full of gnomes, through a glistening dew-covered window, and finally found its way into Harry's room. The rays shimmered on Harry's face, warming him as the sunbeams danced on his cheeks. As the light intensified, Harry couldn't help but stir. He opened his eyes to the sun, and paused for a moment, his bright green eyes sparkling in the sunlight. A smile jumped onto his face.

He was happy. Today was the day—the day when he would get to return to Hogwarts. And returning to Hogwarts meant one thing****Cedric.

There was nary a moment when Cedric wasn't on his mind. Ever since the World Cup, since that night they had spent together, Harry couldn't help but think about him. There was the odd moment when his mind wandered elsewhere, when he was preoccupied with other things, like playing Quidditch in the vast field in back of the house or trying to moderate a skirmish between Hermione and Ron, but aside from that, it was all Cedric. Cedric always seemed to come back to mind. And it made Harry happy that he would be able to see Cedric somewhere, anywhere, outside of his daydreams today.

He quickly slipped out of his pale, worn pajamas and into his school robes. Once he was ready, he ran down to the bustling kitchen. He saw that he was the last one awake. Ron had actually woken earlier than Harry for once.

"Hey Harry," said Ron, sitting at the table. "I'm surprised you're up so late. We've got to get going for school."

"Oh, really Ron. You're lucky you're up. If I hadn't thought about it, you probably would still be in bed, snoring. But you of course had to wait to pack until the very last minute," remarked Hermione. She looked towards Harry. "But he's right you know. We're leaving in just a few minutes. Hope you're all packed."

"Yeah, I am," answered Harry, sitting down. Hermione looked at him.

"You know, you look pretty happy today," said Hermione.

"Yeah, unusually happy, what've you got on your mind?" asked Ron.

"N-nothing," stammered Harry. "Can't a bloke be happy to go back to school?" he added, struggling to avoid Cedric. Harry hadn't mentioned anything about him yet, and wasn't going to start now. At least not yet.

"What are you looking forward to the most?" inquired Hermione, only mildly interested in the conversation. Her eyes slowly wandered back to huge book she was reading: _The Subtle Nuances of Sustained Transfiguration_.

"Just getting to see Hogwarts. And the rest of our friends," said Harry.

_That wasn't a complete lie_, he thought to himself, smirking.

"Well, you can't leave here without a good breakfast," interjected Mrs. Weasley as she placed a stack of pancakes swimming in syrup in front of Harry. He made quick work of the stack of flapjacks, and soon enough, Mrs. Weasley, the twins, Hermione, Ron, Ginny, and Harry were on their merry way to platform 9 ¾.

cHcHcHcHcHcHcHcHcHcHcHcHcHcHcHcH

Hermione, Ron, and Harry stepped onto the train and commenced their search for an empty compartment. They strolled down the narrow pathway, past giggling gaggles of girls. As they walked by, Harry could swear that he saw someone at the center of the group of girls. It only took a moment to recognize that face. Cedric.

"Can you believe that all the girls are fawning over him like that?" asked Ron, rolling his eyes. Hermione glared at him.

"You're just jealous Ron," she replied coolly, taking a quick glance at Cedric. Ron steamed.

"Harry, support me on this one," said Ron. "I'm not jealous!" Harry didn't answer. He was too…preoccupied.

"Just stop," said Hermione, turning away.

"How could I be jealous of that twit?" asked Ron, his cheeks reddening. Harry snapped out of his trance.

"Name-calling now? Mature, Ron," said Harry.

_Did that sound protective? _Harry asked himself. He looked to Ron to see a response. All he could see was an emotionless stare.

"Fine," remarked Ron. He followed Hermione into an empty compartment nearby. Harry followed suit and sat down. He stared out the window, not eager to be confronted by Ron.

"Do you have any idea what the rumors have been about? The ones about Hogwarts this year?" inquired Hermione, struggling to break the awkward silence that had settled over the room. Ron shrugged.

"No idea****" replied Harry, at least displaying a tad more effort than Ron. Hermione smirked.

"It sounds pretty exciting, from what Mr. Weasley and Bill have told us at least," remarked Hermione.

"That's true," admitted Harry.

"How exciting could it be?" said Ron.

"Why can't you at least pretend to be enjoying spending time with your friends?" asked Hermione.

"Maybe because both of you don't even care what I think," said Ron.

"How can we listen to you when you're attacking someone?" asked Hermione. Harry nodded.

"You're my friends…you're supposed to listen to me," said Ron, trying desperately to support his logic.

" And as you're friends, we're obligated to tell you when you're being thick-headed," said Hermione.

"I'm not being thick**-**headed," said Ron obdurately.

"You sort of are," replied Harry, still staring out of the window. He watched as they entered a shadowy tunnel and the room was filled with darkness, the dim yellow light of the cabin providing a simple but eerie light. Just as Hermione was about to speak…

A scream came from the head of the train. It sounded as though someone was hurt. And all of the sudden, the train halted, throwing Hermione to the floor. It only took a moment for her to shake off her tumble.

The darkness disappeared as she muttered _lumos_, bathing the room in a quiet white light. She slowly rose to her feet and held her wand towards the door. By now, the whole train had gone completely dark. She walked towards the door and slid it open, peering outside to see if she could surmise what had occurred. She stood there for a moment before speaking.

"Come on**** you two," she said. She waited for Ron and Harry to stand up, but they just sat there. She turned her wand back towards the room, their faces shining dimly in the wandlight, and she looked at them.

"We have to investigate. Something is not right," she added. Harry nodded silently and curtly stood up. Ron followed him and Hermione out into the eerie hallway. When they had first entered the train, the hall had sounded with laughter and was alit with golden sunlight, but now, fear hung in the silence left behind by the scream, and darkness seemed to pervade even the dim wandlight. Harry saw a few of the dark compartments light up with the _lumos_ charm. He looked over his shoulder and saw that the door to his side had slid open, and a face suddenly appeared in the doorway, seemingly floating in midair.

"Harry?" the nearly bodiless head asked. Harry peered closer.

"Neville?" replied Harry, now squinting. "Is that you?" The head nodded.

"What're you doing in the hallway?" asked Neville. Hermione saw it as her duty to reply.

"We're investigating that horrid scream. Do you want to come with us?" asked Hermione. She didn't wait for an answer. "Good, we can use all the help we can get, most likely. Who knows what stopped the train."

"Won't other people take care of it?" said Neville.

"Then why hasn't the train started again?" asked someone from inside Neville's cabin, in response to his question.

"Ginny?" asked Ron. The girl opened the door completely and came out into the hallway.

"I couldn't help but overhear your conversation," she remarked with a smirk. Hermione pushed ahead.

"Great. We'll need your help, too. Now let's go," responded Hermione, huffing ahead. Harry followed her to the front of the car, followed by Ron. It took a moment for Ginny to convince Neville to come with them under threat of an unbearable bat-boogey hex.

As they trudged to the head of the train, their progress was soon halted when a door abruptly slammed open. Before anyone could react, Ron suddenly slid to the floor as he was struck by a red light. It only took a moment to identify who had cast the spell.

Harry stared into the cold grey eyes of Malfoy, and without thinking, quickly tore out his wand.

Before Malfoy could even insult them, Harry shouted, "_Petrificus totalus_," and Draco fell backwards into his compartment, the door sliding shut behind him. A dull thud sounded as the his head hit the floor behind the closed door. With Malfoy out of the way, Harry spun around, only to see a stunned Ron.

"_Enervate_," said Hermione, watching Ron shake off the stunner. "Are you okay, Ron?" she asked, offering her hand. Ron took it and righted himself.

"Bloody brill**ia**nt," he answered, still sour at Hermione and Harry.

"Harry, you really shouldn't have attacked Malfoy like that. You could easily be exp—"

"You know as well as I do that that was just **a **reflex to Malfoys attack. Which was also completely uncalled for. If anyone is getting expelled, it should be him," fumed Harry. Ron smiled, but seemed slightly ticked off that he had been stunned when this had happened. Hermione did not seem amused at all.

"Yes, I know, but Snape would never allow for that. And if asked, Malfoy would lie about the confrontation," replied Hermione, not affronted in the slightest. Before Neville or Ginny could insert their two Knuts, a scream came from the head of the train once more.

"We better go," said Hermione. Everyone nodded as she led the way to the head of the train. As the group walked towards the head of the train car, the darkness slowly halted, as orange-hued light filled the cars.

As Harry approached the door leading into the head car, he heard a group of people screaming. He peered through the window to see a weary, frightened Cedric against a wall. As Harry looked up, he could understand the fear Cedric felt.

Cedric Diggory was corned by a vehement Hungarian Horntail that was about to strike.

_A/N_: I sort of rewrote this whole chapter to take the story in a direction more to my liking. Sorry about the first version. It was a… test run. Yes, that's it! Oh, and the cliffie, that's just some of my fun added in. I'm sorry about it, I really am. And I apologize about the extremely long wait for this chapter. I hope that it was well worth it, even if it was a little short. Next one should be out in a jiffy I think that I'll be able to put it up rather soon, at least. Until next time! 

**Please Review! I love feedback on my stories.**


	7. Chapter 6: Heart

_Disclaimer: _This is based upon J.K. Rowling's series of novels, Harry Potter, mostly drawing from the _Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire_.

_A/N:_ Okay, so I have been reading more than I have been writing lately, I'm sorry. I hope everyone enjoyed the last chapter. It was my beta's doing (I 3 you liv, by the way, I really do). She convinced me to take this story on a more creative side. I shall make sure to include some of the many major events, but things are changing, my faithful readers. I hope you enjoy the chapter. Please **read and review**! (I may actually be able to update sometime soon, that is, if you review!)

**Chapter 6: Heart**

Harry stared at Cedric who had succumb to terror. Cedric's silver eyes served as a gateway into his horror. By now, the normal silver that shone with silent glee was glazed over; his eyes were frozen with fright. As Harry stared into Cedric's eyes, he felt his spirits drop, his heart fall, his eyes tear. He felt helpless…

Then the Horntail moved, causing another part of the already crumbling ceiling to collapse, sending more of the suns rays into the room, filtering through the growing smoke.

Suddenly, an enormous spout of flames lit the dim room and instantaneously obscured Cedric from sight as the light blinded Harry and his friends. As he saw the flames creep towards Cedric, Harry wanted to scream, but was paralyzed with horror. Even so, somehow a tear managed to slip out of his eye and slide down his cheek. He had seen it, he had seen the flames go towards Cedric—then Harry lost sight of everything. He felt overcome by loss.

Trying to find some shard of hope within the bowels of this destruction, Harry gazed across the room through the smoke, searching for a piece of something that would tell him that Cedric was okay. He peered closer, struggling to see even just a few feet in front of himself. It took a moment for Harry to realize it. He saw _something_ glint in the fading sunlight light. For a moment, he thought it was one of the dragon's scales shimmering in the sunlight. A moment later, however, Harry breathed a sigh of relief.

Harry saw a complete moving, breathing, living body. He jumped for joy: Cedric must still be alive. He must have jumped away from the flames just in time. If Cedric's reflexes had not been so quick, Harry well knew such a fiery blast from an angry dragon would have surely caused quite a crispy demise.

As Harry looked at Cedric, dodging the dragon's attacks, he somehow knew that the emotional flurry he was facing was simply not an option. He studied Cedric closely and instantly knew that he wanted to save him. Harry wanted to protect him right now. Cedric came first, not his immature feelings. So Harry wiped his emotions away, sealing his fear, his sorrow, his joy, just so he could think clearly.

He took a precious moment to contemplate the situation at hand, using his knowledge to his advantage. Bill had long ago told him that dragon hide was impenetrable to magic. Along with this helpful tidbit, Harry knew that nothing was perfect. Everything had to have some weak point, as such was a biological rule of magical creatures. Even if that imperfection in the hide of the Hungarian Horntail proved to be only slightly weaker than an impregnable wall, it would be something to help Cedric. And that hope fueled Harry's mind.

He had an idea.

"Aim for the eyes of the dragon! When I say so, cast _diffindo_," he ordered. Hermione nodded, and the rest simply looked, trusting his judgement.

"Now!" he shouted, drawing a furious dragon's attention, and almost a mildly curious, yet undeniably vehement glare.

"_Diffindo_!" they all shouted with their wands pointing towards the dragon. Only Hermione's, Harry's, and Ginny's spells had struck the eyes, blinding the Horntail and sending him into a fit of rage. The other two spells had not done nearly as well.

Ron's spell had unluckily hit the neck, one of the thickest portions of the dragon's skin. Because of its thickness, it proved to be an excellent magic repellent, so good, in fact, that Ron's spell reflected straight back at him. With only moment between life and death, Ron fell to the ground as his saw his spell zooming towards him. Luckily, the spell only grazed his hair, but the glass door behind him was not quite so lucky—the door shattered, showering the floor with shards.

Neville had fared considerably worse. In his fright, he had closed his eyes and aimed blindly. His spell had grazed the foot of the beast, as his nervous shaking caused his wand to drop a few crucial degrees. In the end, he had done more harm than good. His spell had simply vexed the already vehement monstrosity.

In a catastrophic turn for the worse, the monster started spewing fire everywhere, trying to kill. Not knowing where the miscreants were, the dragon appeared to be taking an en masse approach, literally sending fire everywhere in the room as it spun around. With the added threat, Harry was buckling. He did not know what to do.

"Hermione!" cried Harry.

"Harry, I don't know," she replied, trying to dodge the fire that had just come her way. Even without him asking for help, she had known he needed it. She tried her best to think, using her resources to her advantage.

"Wait. Fire!" she screamed, looking towards the growing flames by her side. "Everyone, on the count of three—aim for the eyes with fire!"

"One, two, THREE" Hermione shrieked.

"_Incendio!_" the group cried. Hermione's spell struck first, setting the left eye socket ablaze. The dragon cried out in pain, but promptly growled and spewed torrents of flames out of its mouth. Harry's and Neville's hit near the right eye, while Ron's and Ginny's simply missed altogether, instead contributing to the growing flames in the room. However, their desperate attempt as a whole did not work—with a bat of its tail to its head, the dragon extinguished the pesky flames.

"We need something stronger!" cried Ginny. Harry was once more consumed with emotion, staring at Cedric, who was clear on the other side of the room, still in grave danger. Harry snapped out of the trance, listening to Hermione.

"The strongest flame I know is _Incendio Magnus_!" said Hermione, clearly struggling to her mind's catalogue for a suitable spell.

"Works for me," said Harry. "Everyone—NOW!"

"_Incendio Magnus_!" screamed the group. Each of their five wands emitted a bright orange light. Although it appeared to be a tiny orb, it shone remarkably intensely. It flew speedily to its intended target.

Harry's spell made contact first. The instant the orb touched the burnt eye of the dragon, it exploded like a pack of dynamite. Hermione's spell detonated only a moment later. Once more, the dragon shrieked out in misery as the flames quickly spread, fueled by blood flooding out from its eyes. The impact had been so strong, in fact, that it had sent a magical wind through the air, causing the remaining orbs to shake slightly.

Next to strike were the Weasley's orbs, both hitting the dragon dead on in the forehead. Luckily, the hide did not send the spells careening off course. Instead, the flames appeared to ignite the magical bombs, which led to more fire and more misery for the dragon, much to Harry's delight. After all, they were all the closer to saving Cedric, who was facing not only the perils of the dragon, but also the growing blaze.

In agony, the Horntail opened its mouth to emit a roaring shriek, but no noise ever emerged Neville's spell had yet to strike. This time, Neville did not close his eyes, for fear that he would make the same mistake and put his dear friends in danger due to his own fear of harm As his spell neared the target, the beast opened its mouth. Instead of hitting near the eyes of the dragon, the orb glided right over the dark, long, slithery tongue and right into one of the long, spiky, and as Harry noted, gruesomely bloody fangs of the beast.

The burning head of the dragon instantly exploded, sending pieces of burning flesh flying throughout the room and into the growing fire that consumed practically everything.

But as Harry looked over towards him, he realized his assumption was completely inaccurate. Cedric was once more facing almost certain doom as the burning dragon corpse finally began to fall towards him. With the flames blocking his side escapes, and the dragon falling towards him from the front, he was completely trapped.

Without thinking, without even knowing what he was saying, Harry screamed.

"_Accio Cedric Diggory_!"

For a moment, as the dragon continued to fall to the floor, and Cedric remained unmoving, clearly corned by the dragon' corpse. He had no escape, and Harry's spell was not working. But Harry focused with all his might, he wanted Cedric to be safe, he wanted Cedric to be with him, he wanted Cedric. That desire, that _love_, was enough.

As the body of the headless Horntail slammed the ground, a deadening crunch of bones beneath its girth was absent. Harry saw Cedric Diggory flying towards him. Before he could react, Cedric hit him head-on. Under the extra weight, Harry quickly fell to the floor, a tired Cedric on top of him.

As they lay there, Cedric's silver eyes gazed into Harry's. Underneath Cedric, Harry felt warmth spread through his body. Cedric then moved a little closer, much to Harry's glee.

"_Thank you,_" he whispered, smiling at Harry. For a moment, their eyes remained locked, and all Harry cared about was being with Cedric. But it was not to last. Cedric shook his head, snapping out of his gaze and blushing, his cheeks turning rosy pink. Even though Harry didn't like Cedric standing up and leaving him there, Harry did find solace in the positively cute way a flustered Cedric Diggory looked.

While Harry focused on rising to his feet, and perhaps found himself even more preoccupied with looking at Cedric, the rest of the group continued to use _aguamenti_ to put out the diminishing flames. Harry could care less about the fire as long as Cedric was around, sinceCedric somehow dominated his thoughts, making him feel all a flutter.

Cedric's dark hair fell messily over his face, and his silver eyes sparkled brightly despite the fact that he had almost died. Somehow, Harry wasn't surprised that Cedric still managed to look perfect despite a few minor burns and some tears in his robes that were stained with the accumulation of blood. As Harry admired Cedric, he couldn't help but ignore the conversation that had begun as the fire had finally gone out.

"So," Hermione said, addressing Cedric "how did that happen? And why were you here?"

"Why were _you_ here?" asked Cedric, putting matters into focus for Hermione. The moment Cedric spoke, Harry began to listen. "I hoped to gauge the severity of the situation and even help fix it. I had no way of expecting that everything had become so out of hand. All I knew was that the train faced an unscheduled delay. And when I heard the shriek of a first year girl, I had to run here."

"Is she okay?" asked Ginny, concerned.

"Yes, I was able to get her out of the dragon's way quite quickly. I was able to get her out of the car safely without the dragon noticing her absence. Actually, she should be waiting outside right now. Anyway, in doing so, I put myself in harm's way. Without the girl as a target for the dragon's fury, I drew the dragon's attention to myself. By that time, the hulking beast had me cornered. I was prepared for death at that point, knowing full well that I had little chance of defeating such a magically resistant creature alone, especially without sufficient training. I have to thank all of you for ignoring common sense and coming and beating the dragon with some quick thinking." Harry could have swooned at the moment. Cedric had not only been heroic, but he had managed to be exceedingly polite even in these circumstances. He was a true gentleman.

"It was mostly Harry," piped up Hermione. "He led us, and we supplied some quick spell work with even quicker thinking," said Hermione, always perceptive. Cedric stared at Harry for a moment, promptly causing Harry to blush.

"I better be going—I have to get these wounds treated. I'll see you all later!" Cedric said a moment later, making quite regal exit despite being in moderate physical pain.

Harry couldn't help but obey temptation, and he sneaked a look at Cedric's ass. Needless to say, he was pleased with what he saw. However, this glance did not go unnoticed. Harry felt someone else's eyes on him, and looked up to see Hermione. Once she caught Harry's eyes, she raised her eyebrow.

_Oh shit. Why do I have to have such perceptive friends_? thought Harry, his thoughts briefly pausing_. I guess I'm talking to Hermione sooner rather than later about this, aren't I?_

Regardless, Hermione soon looked away as a conversation sort of erupted from a flabbergasted Ronald Weasley.

"That was bloody brilliant, you guys," remarked Ron abruptly, with quite a bit of enthusiasm.

"Yeah, especially you Hermione. Without you, we wouldn't have gotten anywhere," praised Harry, returning a favor. She smiled smugly.

"Yes, well, it was a team effort," she commented modestly. "I thought Neville did quite an excellent job with his _incendio magnus_. His spell was perfect. His skill killed the dragon we thought to be unbeatable," remarked Hermione, causing Neville to blush. The conversation continued for a few more minutes in much the same manner, as everyone commented on how well they had all done. But their amiable exchange was soon interrupted.

A female Ravenclaw prefect, who appeared to be in her sixth year, briskly strode into the room and looked at the rubble left behind by the battle. She gave the five a curious look. As Harry looked at her, he couldn't help but guess what her personality must be like. Her dark, brunette hair complemented her deep brown eyes and gave her an intelligent, yet subtly cynical look.

"Due to the train's inability to transport the students to school," said the prefect quite formally, "Professor Dumbledore has sent a series of Portkeys for the students to take to the edge of Hogwarts. Given your…state, Cedric has suggested that you five take the first port key to Hogwarts to receive immediate medical care from Madam Pomfrey. If you would please, follow me." The Ravenclaw curtly turned around and began to leave.

"But we're perfectly fine. Just a few scrapes," replied Ron in defiance. The prefect looked back and examined them.

"Nevertheless, it would be prudent if you would return to Hogwarts at once so that you do not get into any more trouble or acquire any more… scrapes, as you called them," replied the prefect with a bit of venom.

"But what about our luggage?" asked Neville.

"It will follow you later to Hogwarts and be placed in your rooms after the feast. Now, if you would please. Follow me to the Portkey," spat the angry prefect, shooting a glare at them all. "Unless, there any more objections to why we should ignore your safety?" Silence. "Good."

"Wait!" said Harry.

"What is it now?" snapped the prefect.

"There's a little girl waiting outside. The dragon attacked her. I think that she should come with us. After all, she might need medical attention" replied Harry, not the least slighted by the prefect's attitude. The prefect pondered this tidbit of information for a moment, as though she might actually allow for him to get her.

"Yes, well. I guess you had better retrieve her. Please be quick. Mind you, the Portkey leaves soon," responded the Prefect, finally beaten by their excuses.

Harry ran over to a window that had been smashed open and jumped outside and onto the dewy grass. Hermione was right behind him, although she was having trouble getting out of the window. Harry promptly helped her out and into the crisp night air.

"Harry…" she said, trying to talk with him. However, her intended conversation was interrupted by a squeaky little voice.

"Hello? Who's there? I hope you know I'm armed and dangerous! I have a few nasty hexes up my sleeve if you come any closer! You were warned!" said a young girl hiding behind a rock. She was clearly frightened, and Harry thought she was showing much more bark then could bite.

"Don't worry, we're Hogwarts students just like you," said Harry, smiling at the girls protective stance. "Really. We helped take care of the dragon. We came to take you to Hogwarts so you can check in with Madam Pomfrey."

"Really?" said the girl, slightly wary of trusting the two. "Are we going back on the Hogwarts Express?"

"No," replied Hermione. "The Express's first car got devastated by the dragon. Professor Dumbledore thought it would prove more expedient to simply use port keys to send the children to Hogwarts. Now, the first one is leaving soon, so we had best be off. What's your name?"

"Anna. Anna Bones," replied the young girl, clearly trusting Hermione. As Harry looked closer, he couldn't help but consider her a miniature replica of her sister. Apparently, Hermione had noticed as well.

"Oh, I know your sister! Susan Bones, a Hufflepuff in our year! Well, come on, we better get off Hogwarts. The sooner that we get to Madame Pomfrey, the less of a chance there will be of you missing the sorting ceremony," replied Hermione.

"Oh, I suppose so," said Anna, a little flustered at the prospect of missing her own sorting.

"Follow me," said Hermione in a friendly manner, leading the young girl back to the train, comforting her along the way, assuring her that everything would work out, no matter what rumor she had heard about the sorting hat eating children it didn't like.

Hermione and Harry helped the little girl get back into the train, boosting her through the window. This left Harry and Hermione alone for a short moment.

"Harry…" she said once more, looking him in the eye.

"Yes?" replied Harry, deflecting her.

"Nothing," she remarked, pausing for a moment to take a breath. "I just want you to know that no matter what, I will always be your friend. No matter what, okay? I'm there for you. And I'll always love you. I just wanted to make sure that you knew that. I love you like you were my own blood," she said. She began to climb in, not paying attention to Harry. His eyes turned pink, welling with tears, and he sniffled. Hermione completely missed the tear that slid down Harry's cheek. But before she could climb back into the car, he pulled her back down and hugged her.

"Thanks. That means more then you probably know," said Harry, with tears flooding his eyes. Hermione hugged back.

"Just don't keep secrets from me, okay?" she requested, looking him in the eye. "Talk to me in the common room tonight after the feast. Alone."

"Fine," responded Harry, trying to wipe away his tears and make himself presentable. Hermione nodded and climbed back into the train, followed by Harry.

"What took so long?" inquired the Ravenclaw prefect angrily. "The Portkey is about to leave! I don't think I should even bother asking what happened. Let's just go. If you would please, follow me."

"Who _peed _in her pumpkin juice?" murmured Ron to Harry, receiving a stifled laugh from Harry. The Ravenclaw prefect looked over her shoulder as she walked ahead, glaring at them.

"Bloody hell," whispered Neville as they exited the train and headed out into the middle of a field. Anna Bones had by now run ahead through the billowing grass, eager to get to Hogwarts as soon as possible.

The poor child couldn't see even two feet in front of her.. After all, she was only slightly taller than the enormous grass, it was dark, and she was scurrying along rather quickly. It was not wonder that she ran right into a daydreaming Cedric Diggory.

Harry was quick to follow her, but he stopped a few feet before he would have crashed into Cedric. For a moment, Harry himself was left in thought, pondering if he could have successfully crashed into Cedric and acted as though it had been an accident.

_Too late now_, thought Harry, as Hermione and Ron arrived, followed by the Ravenclaw, Ginny, and Neville.

"So where's the Portkey?" asked Neville, clearly searching for any object that could possibly be it.

"This," said Cedric, holding out a discarded necklace that was worn and beaten—easily mistaken for trash. But to Harry, it was more than that. He noticed that at the end of the end of the battered chain rested a mildly tarnished heart, a heart that still managed to glisten in the moonlight.

_Hope_, thought Harry, but his thought process was interrupted by a shrill order from the Ravenclaw.

"Okay everyone, make sure you get a firm hold on the chain. I don't want any one of you getting left behind, even if we all would rather you did," remarked the prefect. Everyone grabbed ahold of the chain. Hermione took special care to help little Anna Bones maintain a firm grip on the Portkey, helping to ease both of their anxieties. While the rest of the group grabbed for the Portkey, Harry moved towards Cedric. Not unnoticed, mind you. Hermione simply smirked at his sly maneuvering, while Cedric opted for a broad grin.

Harry stopped right to the left of Cedric, and he grabbed for the worn heart. Right when he did, Cedric had decided that he too should hang onto the charm on the necklace. As Harry grasped the left half of the worn golden heart, Cedric had grabbed for the right.

Before they could reposition their hold on the Portkey, they felt the familiar sensation take hold of them as the traveled through a warp in space-time, creating by the sheer power held in the mysterious force of magic. Without any other choice, they trusted their heart with their lives, hoping that it would not break from the chain under the pressure.

Moments later, the Ravenclaw alerted them it was time to let go. Without further ado, Harry and Cedric both let go of the necklace, and they found themselves falling out of time and onto the eerie grounds bordering the Forbidden Forest near Hogwarts.

When Cedric saw that Harry was falling improperly, his face was on a crash course with the ground, he grabbed for Harry's hand, and helped to pull him up. Instead of a free fall to the ground, Cedric guided him, allowing for them both to glide softly down onto the grass. Harry, however, could care less about the potential danger of falling, and more about Cedric holding his hand. It was a wonderful sensation of warmth, of care, of emotion—he hoped it would last forever. He wished for even more than that, for more warmth, for more care, for more emotion. But no one heard his pleas, and before any of the others could see, Cedric let go of his hand. The warmth that had flooded Harry's body was gone, leaving him slightly saddened.

Hermione, followed by the Ravenclaw, Neville, Ginny, Ron, and then finally, the small little first year girl plopped down on the grass. Everyone had seemed to land safely, with Hermione helping Anna land softly on the ground. Finally, the small necklace plopped down on the ground, right to the side of Harry. He bent down to grab it, maybe to make something of it. But before he could think of what to do, the Ravenclaw continued to bark out more orders at them.

"Now then, shouldn't you all should be off to the Hospital Wing? Must I take you there my—"

Cedric interrupted the Ravenclaw. "I think I can take it from here, but thank you for the offer," replied Cedric courteously, but with an edge. And so he led the group up quite a large hill to one of the back entrances of Hogwarts, where they took a right and the Ravenclaw veered left.

Before they knew it, they all had Madame Pomfrey buzzing around them, scolding them for not coming sooner, and admonishing them for their brash, reckless behavior which had put their lives in danger. However, as there were six of them, plus a petrified first year, the harangue did not seem quite as long as normal. It appeared as though she had taken out her anger on all of them.

Poppy once more found herself doing what she did best. She merrily bustled around the room, helping them with their various afflictions, administering various creams for cuts and burns, ointments for bruises, mysteriously questionable-looking potions for exhaustion, and even some helpful spellwork for everything in between. She may have been a stern woman, but with her sternness, she made an incredible nurse who did Hogwarts proud.

While Harry waited to be treated (which he thought was completely unnecessary, for he had suffered little else then a few minor bruises), he talked amiably with Cedric. He found that conversation between them flowed effortlessly, and that he wanted more time, more time to spend with Cedric, to grow closer to him. But before he knew it, everyone had been treated, and they were all anxiously shooed away so that Madam Pomfrey's hospital wing might be open to "any other students who took it upon themselves to be heroes," as she put it.

All seven of the students found their way to the feast, with Anna Bones anxiously running ahead, still convinced that she might miss her Sorting. As for the rest, they simply walked ahead, although Cedric had to go see his head of house, leaving Harry talking with Ron and Neville about trivial matters.

As Harry sat down and began to listen to the Sorting Hat, he couldn't help but feel that this year would prove to be something special.

_A/N_: Just be happy that you got a nice, long chapter (for me) after getting next to no reviews on the last one grumbles. You know I'm just playing with your minds, don't you? I'm sorry, it's just too much fun. But let me tell you, you guys better review this time, or else! It really takes away some writing steam when no one except one person (AND THANK YOU!) reviews. Ah well. I know you all still care. Well, it's more of hoping that you do. I hope you did enjoy this chapter. Please tell me! Please review!

_Please be aware that reviews help give me initiative to write. _

**Want more chapters sooner? Please review!**


	8. Chapter 7: Can You Keep a Secret?

Disclaimer: This story is based off of the Goblet of Fire of Harry Potter renown.

A/N: Thank you for the reviews that you gave me on the last chapter! I really enjoyed them, and they did get me in the writing mood. The title is from Utada, as are the brief interjection of lyrics (the second line translated) from her song, Can You Keep a Secret? This chapter is written in a much a different style than the usual flow of time in my stories, spread over the span of two months. Oh well, it's especially long. I do need to get the plot moving. So here we go!

**Chapter 7: Can You Keep a Secret? **

Sitting in the warm, musty Transfiguration classroom a week into the term, Harry couldn't help but let reality slip away, and Ron was not one to stop him, as he was already caught in a frizzy dream. And so, a daydream overcame Harry too as he left his body behind and let the rambling voice of McGonagall gradually fade.

_Harry found himself out on the grounds, walking towards the lake, bathing in the warm sun's rays and enjoying the breeze that blew through his hair and rumpled the leaves of the moping maple to his side._

_He gazed at the leaves for a moment, admiring their beauty in the light. The leaves were a myriad of colors, from bright yellows to brownish black, colored with fresh greens and brilliant reds. As he sat down beneath the tree, it noted his presence and began to weep, showering its leaves down on him. He sat for a moment enjoying the sensation of the leaves and the breeze on his skin._

_Once he had enough, Harry brushed off this colorful coat and looked upwards to see new leaves take the place of old ones, quickly growing to fill in the gaps. _

_He was content, this was a perfect day. Well, almost. It was missing something, but that was soon to change._

_Down by the shore of the lake, Harry heard laughter. As the group approached Harry, Harry noticed Cedric among the ranks of the group, surrounded by jovial Hufflepuffs. He looked perfect, as always. _

_On cue, Cedric flashed a grin at Harry, and said something to his friends. They looked at him, questioning his decision, but waved goodbye. He was left standing in front of Harry, blushing slightly. He was also saying something, but Harry didn't exactly know what. He was too focused on Cedric sitting down next to him and leaning towards him for--_

"Mr. Potter, pay attention!" snapped McGonagall, glaring at him. "You are supposed to Transfigure your quill into a living bird, as you have yet to do. It is still a lifeless feather from the looks of it."

Harry gulped. He had absolutely no idea how exactly to do accomplish this feat, as he had completely disregarded the Professor's lecture. He hoped that she would just disregard him as well and move on to the next student, but she was content to stand right in front of him, tapping her foot impatiently. She clearly expected him to have completed the Transfiguration that Hermione had already completed half an hour ago. He looked to see her move, but she failed to budge.

It looked like he would have to try the spell, at the very least. He had in fact listened enough to ascertain the incantation for the spell, but he wasn't sure even that was right.. He looked down at the feather and hoped for the best. It might actually work, for all he knew.

"_Aves niveus_," he said, his wand pointing down at the feather. For a moment, nothing happened. Then the feather began glow a bright white and instantly changed into a bird. At least, it looked like a bird as a mist from the spell cleared away.

Well, the thing came into sight, Harry saw that it was only the head of what appeared to be a common dove. From what Harry gathered from Hermione's murmurs, he had apparently missed half of the wand movements necessary for the rest of the body of the bird to form. By now, McGonagall had stopped the patting of her foot and stared at Harry in disbelief, her lips pursed. Just as she was about to yell at Harry for failing to listen to her clear explanation of the proper wand movements, a few bloody pieces of bird flew towards them, with one particularly gruesome piece hitting McGonagall in the face. Besides being red with blood, her face was flushed, displaying her anger. She turned her head and looked towards where the bird had exploded.

"Fifteen points from Gryffindor," she said, anger seeping into her voice. "For not following directions, Mr. Longbottom."

"But I did, Professor," he answered, both flustered and covered with blood. "I followed your directions precisely the way you demonstrated them to us." She pondered this for a moment.

"I ask you, did you remember to reverse the way I worked my wand, as I was facing the opposite direction that you are facing, or did you follow my wand movements exactly?" asked McGonagall. Neville blushed.

"Oh," he replied.

"Yes, oh is right. Next time, make sure to think past following directions like a mindless individual. Honestly Mr. Longbottom. It's your fourth year," she admonished, making Neville blush further. It was hard for anyone to handle being embarrassed in front of a class of your peers by a Professor. Luckily, McGonagall displayed mercy that Snape would never have given and she kept the lesson moving.

"Now, can anyone tell me why Mr. Longbottom's failure to perform the correct wand movements made his bird explode?" asked McGonagall, turning the situation into a bit of teaching. Hermione's hand shot up.

"Because Neville reversed the spell work, he reversed the effects of the spell, creating a bird that formed inside out. That part follows Murphy's fourth magical law. 'If something is wrong in the working of the spell, than that will always be reflected in the outcome.' That applies to anything from failing to complete the incantation to messy spellwork," she answered looking at Harry on that last phrase Harry rolled his eyes. "As for the explosion itself, the inside of a bird is not made to maintain the pressure necessary to hold the bird together. So once the insides became the outside of the bird, the new insides of the bird burst outward."

"Excellent answer, Ms. Granger. Ten points to Gryffindor," said Professor McGonagall, generously giving points to make up for the ones Neville lost. "Now, Mr. Longbottom, please make sure to clean up that mess."

Professor McGonagall swiftly strode to the front of the classroom, leaving behind the students to wade their way through the transfiguration on their own so that she could grade a set of papers.

_Grading must settle her temper, _thought Harry. _She does always turn to grade papers when anyone messes with her temper. _Harry looked around the classroom to see how his classmates were doing, and Hermione caught his eye.

She looked annoyed, as she felt that in the absence of a teacher, it was her duty to help the students out. Especially Neville, who needed just a tad bit of assistance to help him improve. He had mastered the wand movements, just backwards. He had potential and Hermione knew she could help if that was the case.

Harry was glad that McGonagall had ignored him, even if it did vex Hermione, and he breathed a sigh of relief. He listened to the sound of scrubbing brushes as students helped Neville with his _scourigify,_ and Hermione talking in a low voice about how Neville could easily improve. Harry looked over to see Neville nod enthusiastically.

Harry smiled. Neville had distracted McGonagall from scolding him for his own failure. He set back to work, before he could fall back into daydreams...

cHcHcHcHcHcHcHcHcHcH

Harry walked out of the door of the Potions classroom and down the frigid hall deep in the dungeons a week later, with Ron, Hermione, and Neville by his side. Despite feeling a bit depressed about getting another zero in Potions from Professor Snape, Just as he was about to head up the stairs, Harry saw Cedric running down the stairs, flanked by his Hufflepuff friends. Harry hadn't seen Cedric for a week; even at meals, Cedric somehow avoided Harry, and in the halls, if Harry even caught a scent of what he thought was Cedric, it disappeared within moments. So it was no wonder that Harry was happy to see Cedric and couldn't help but grin.

As Ron and Neville continued talking about how cruel Professor Snape had been to them today, complaining he had taken fifty points from _both_ Ron and Neville for making the same minute mistake in a potion (although Hermione argued nothing was minute in a potion), Harry stopped even pretending to care. He looked at Cedric, hoping to catch Cedric's gaze.

Cedric walked towards Harry, and for a moment, looked sort of bemused. A second later, he looked up and met Harry's eyes, locking his eyes with them. Harry's smile widened as he felt a sort of connection grow between him and Cedric. But as Cedric neared the last step, he stumbled and broke his eyes away from Harry's. Despite losing Cedric's eyes, Harry smirked as he saw Cedric blush. He looked over his shoulder, watching Cedric walk ahead of his group of friends and into the potions classroom. Apparently, Cedric was eager to leave behind the embarrassment as soon as possible.

_Oh yeah, he digs me_, thought Harry as he walked up the stairs out of the cold hallway. Another voice in his head argued otherwise.

_How can you be sure_? it asked him. He had no answer. _Well then, if you're not sure, you better be careful about approaching him. You don't know for sure how he will react. Get to know him better, make sure you like him for him. Then decide. _Harry sighed, but gave in to that surprisingly rational thought. He knew he would have to follow that plan, as it made the most sense out of anything lately. It gave him a goal, and a way to achieve it. He just had to get close to Cedric. Now, could that be so hard?

_Yes_, thought Harry grimly. After all, he hadn't seen Cedric at all these first two weeks of school besides this brief encounter. But Harry was not one to turn down a challenge. He was going to get to know Cedric Diggory. Harry nodded and content, and looked to his friends. Ron and Neville still seemed to need to vent to each other over the unfair nature of Snape, while Hermione had her head buried in a book, an old musty tome. He let out a breath, glad that none of them had noticed him.

But as he split from the group to head to the bathroom, Hermione followed him. As he looked at her, she looked up from her book, and they both stopped in front of the bathrooms.

"I saw that," she whispered, turning her back and striding into the girl's bathroom. Harry's jaw dropped in surprise.

_How_? He asked himself, pondering how she could read and be perceptive of what was happening around her at the same time. More importantly though, he wondered if Hermione was getting mad at him for not sharing his secret with her. He had yet to talk to her about him liking blokes, as he now phrased it. Harry knew he should tell her, but he kept avoiding the topic and talking to her about it.

_That has to change_, he thought as he walked into the bathroom.

ChcHcHcHcHcHcHcHcHcHanges!

Over a month later and only a week before Halloween, Harry found himself wondering more about how he would get close to Cedric and less about Professor Binn's boring speech on the Giant Invasion of 1111. Harry could not approach Cedric or even get his attention. Even when he was trying to find Cedric, he couldn't even catch sight of him. Two months into the school year, and Harry had only seen Cedric a handful of times, most of them at meals.

A few weeks ago, Cedric had taken to attending dinner when Harry did. However, Cedric still ate breakfast and lunch at a different time, and still managed to elude Harry even when Harry changed the time at which he ate. Although Cedric was present at the evening dinner, every time Harry tried to catch Cedric as he left or at the door of the Great Hall, Cedric slipped away. Sometimes, Cedric used a group of friends as a sort of barrier for himself as he passed by Harry. Other times, if Harry looked away for one second, letting his attention wander elsewhere, Cedric took the opportunity to disappear.

As Harry sat there pondering these events, he finally came to a conclusion that he had denied to even be possible for weeks.

_Wait,_ thought Harry. _Is he really avoiding me? I thought those were all coincidences, but how can they be? How can anyone want to avoid me?_ Harry had just realized that Cedric was avoiding him and it hurt. He felt emotions take over him as this realization two months in the making hit him, and hard. He had been in denial of it for so long, but he knew it was the only logical conclusion. Considering how small the student populace was, Harry knew the only way Cedric could not see someone was by actively avoiding them. Coincidence could only explain so much, not two months.

There could be a multitude of reasons for Cedric avoiding him, and as he thought of them, most came down to him not liking Harry. He couldn't help but jump to the worst conclusion and emotions really began to run wild as his eyes filled with water that foreshadowed the coming tears. But before the first tear could fall, his emotional free fall was interrupted.

"Mr. Potter? Could you tell us why exactly the giants chose the year 1111 to attack the Wizarding World?" asked Professor Binns, putting Harry on the spot.

"I suppose it was a ceremonially significant year for them. It must have been magically significant for them and led them to believe that it would be a successful revolution against wizards if and only if they started and ended it that year," answered Harry, spewing what came to his head first when he had no other option. He was surprised to see Professor Binns nod.

"Good," he said, moving onto the next question. "Now, Ms. Granger, why would this year be magically important to the Giants?"

"As they only had the intellect to count in binary, they thought such a..."was all Harry caught of Hermione's answer as he began to cry. He made sure that Ron, who was sitting next to him, and the rest of the class did not notice that he had been crushed by his crush.

But for some reason, even with those tears of pain, he felt that he had some hope with Cedric. As his silent tears continued, he looked down to the chain around his neck. He felt a little smile come across his face as he held the heart on the chain in his hand.

Sure, the chain had garnered a few questions from Ron and especially from Hermione, but wearing it was worth the questioning. After Harry had fixed up the Portkey he had from his arrival at Hogwarts with Cedric, he fixed it up. He used some simple cleaning to remove the tarnish that covered the necklace and the grime that refused non-magical means of cleaning and fixing charms he had learned around the Burrow to repair places where the chain was rusted or broken. Once he was done with that, he put on a few of his own finishing touches, giving the chain a more intricate design using an incantation Hermione taught him.

With the necklace's refurbishing done, Harry contemplated keeping the necklace in a drawer or somewhere where it would be safe but unnoticed, yet he decided against that. He thought he should wear it around his neck as a silent proclamation of who he was and maybe even more than that.

Harry couldn't help but feel that the necklace partially symbolized the future for him, and the possibility of him with Cedric. Even when things looked as grim as they did right then, that necklace gave him hope, even if it was only a chain with a heart on it.

cHcHcHcHcHcHcHcHcHcH

A week later on the night before Halloween , things had not improved much for Harry. He had not gotten to talk to Cedric at all, nor had he told any of his friends about him being gay. But that did not matter right at the moment, because he had a plan. He would get to talk to Cedric tonight. Using the fact that Cedric would have to be at the feast because of Dumbledore's orders, Harry planned a sort of ambush that he had not yet tried. He would have to leave the feast early, but he figured that that wouldn't be much of a problem. Hermione might notice, but he doubted Ron would. Apparently, something was happening tonight according to rumors. Harry thought that Ron would get too caught up in the excitement to notice his missing friend.

As Harry listened to the Headmaster's speech about this Triwizard Tournament deal, he was going to put his plan into action. Except, the doors at the front of the hall burst open as a group of wizards and witches clad in thin clothing fit for a warmer climate strode in. Harry looked to Dumbledore for more information on this development.

"May I introduce the students of Beauxbatons and their headmistress, Madame Maxime," he said, motioning towards a giant lady wearing a black gown that made her look sleek, or as sleek as a women of her size and presence could look. As they strode to the front of the room, Harry couldn't help but notice Ron begin to drool as a petite blonde girl strode by in an outfit slightly more brilliant than the rest of her classmates. Hermione rolled her eyes at Ron as he stared at the rest of the girls without even trying to be sly about it.

"Boys," she remarked.

"Now, here are the wizards and witches of Durmstrang and their Headmaster, Igor Karkaroff," continued Dumbledore, his arm extending towards the group of individuals walking into the room. Unlike the Beauxbatons students, these people worse thick coats, from animal fur to layers and layers of cotton outfits. After studying the group of people for a moment, Harry noticed one girl that stuck out from the rest. Instead of the traditional thick, cumbersome robes that the other students doned, she wore a sleek outfit. Harry surmised that it must have be enchanted to keep her warm. From the looks of it, it was fairly intricate charm that probably only increased the cost of an already expensive looking outfit. It was no wonder that only one wizard could afford it, and from the looks of it, she was a tiny, pretentious looking Pureblood girl.

As the students filtered into the room, and Dumbledore continued on his introduction to the perils of the Triwizard Tounament, Harry saw his opportunity to move. When everyone seemed preoccupied with the tournament, hanging on Dumbledore's every word, Harry smoothly pulled his invisibility cloak out of his pocket and put it over himself. He looked around at his peers to make sure that none of them had seen what he done. Besides a slightly befuddled Hermione, it looked as though no one cared the slightest that he had disappeared from sight, let alone notice.

Without a moment to lose, Harry slipped away from the table, and began to walk out of the room with no one the wiser. As he did leave however, he heard Hermione poke Ron and ask, "What happened to Harry?" but no matter how much she tried to ask Ron what happened, he would not answer as he was still infatuated with a girl from Beauxabatons. Harry sniggered at his friend, and the infuriated Hermione, but quickly had to stop as a few first year Hufflepuffs turned their heads at the sound of his laughter, and looked frightened to death.

Harry swiftly strode out of the Great Hall and looked over his shoulder for a moment. Everyone, even the foreign students, was focused on Dumbledore, hanging on his every word. Looking to the front of the room, Harry saw Dumbledore standing tall, looking quite serious. But for a moment, his eyes twinkled, and his face lit up. Professor Dumbledore caught Harry's eyes and winked at Harry knowingly, still speaking to the rest of the students all the while.

_So much for keeping my feelings a secret_, thought Harry. _If Dumbledore knows, he is either completely omniscient in Hogwarts, or just well tuned into the gossiping networks. Regardless, I have to trod carefully._

And without hesitation, Harry continued to stride out of the Great Hall and stood out in the hall to try to catch an unsuspecting Cedric Diggory. So Harry lied in wait. Fifteen minutes past, and nothing happened, but the end of Dumbledore's speech and beginning of the steady drone of conversation emitted from the Great Hall.

Another good ten minutes passed by, but nothing changed. Harry stood there waiting, and began to doubt his plan, knowing that if Cedric really wanted to avoid him, he could be taking precautions beyond simply leaving meals early.

Five minutes past, and hope was fleeting from Harry. He was ready to leave his station and head up to his room, ready to cry at his failure. But finally, something changed. A creak came from the slowly opening grand door of the Great Hall, and as suddenly as that sound came, hope flooded back to Harry, inundating his emotions.

Knowing who it was without a doubt, Harry threw off his invisibility cloak, making sure to safely hide it in a pocket so no one noticed its presence. He watched the prefect come out of the hall, and turn around, frozen in his tracks, looking straight into Harry's eyes.

Cedric Diggory couldn't help but blush a deep rosy, red. Harry had finally caught him.

_Now comes the trodding carefully part_, thought Harry. Knowing this would be hard, as he had never been one to hide his emotions, Harry stared at Cedric for a moment, trying to control the emotions rampaging in him. Anger. Fear. Embarrassment. A foreshadowing of love. He had to control them, but anger was hardest of all, and would not allow itself to be ignored.

"Hello, Cedric," said Harry shortly.

"Er... hey, Harry. How're you doing?" asked Cedric, trying to flash a smile at Harry. Harry didn't fall prey to it, and failed to go weak in the knees.

"I'm good. Except for the fact that I haven't been able to even talk to my new friend I made over the summer," replied Harry, implying a great deal.

"I'm sure that it's just a coincidence," said Cedric, smiling as though it was a joke of sorts. Harry failed to laugh.

"I'd hope so. After all, it's hard not to be a friend with someone after they saved your life from a rampaging dragon. And I'd hope that they would not be avoiding me. After all, that is not at all friendly of them," remarked Harry, speaking in the abstract. Cedric flushed.

"It was a coincidence that we don't talk," said Cedric directly. " I'm sorry. It's just our classes our too different--" but he was caught off by Harry.

"I'd expect you not to lie to me. I consider you my friend, Cedric. But why don't you consider me yours?" asked Harry, gaining momentum.

"I do, I just--"

"Well, you have a strange way of showing it. As I have been told, friends aren't meant to lie or hide from each other," said Harry, feeling a pang of guilt.

"Now look here Harry, that's a big accusation to make, when you have no--" Harry cut off Cedric again.

"I have figured out your schedule. Our classes aren't so far apart that we wouldn't meet more than once during two months," remarked Harry.

"So now you think I'm avoiding you?" asked Cedric, with anger growing in his voice.

"No, I don't think that."

"Well, that's good, because--"

"I know it," interjected Harry. "The question then becomes, why?"

"Harry, I have not been--"

"Please stop. We've already been over this. You have been avoiding me, I'm not stupid."

"I never said you were, it's just--"

"Just what? Why would you avoid me?"

"You're jumping to conclusions, that's what!" snapped Cedric, his kind, well-mannered demeanor slipping.

"I haven't been doing any jumping, I can assure you--"

"Yes you have. You haven't for one moment considered why I would avoid you," replied Cedric, looking flustered.

"Well, it's good that you've finally admitted that you've been avoiding me. I have been asking you why, I don't know myself. I suppose it's a good reason?"

"Very good," replied Cedric, trying to gain control in the conversation.

"Well then, tell me."

"No."

"Why can't you tell me?" asked Harry.

"I--"

"Why?"

"I don't know if you can keep a secret."

"Why don't you ask then? 'Can you keep a secret?' it's not that hard," said Harry, looking at Cedric. So far, his plan was working. He was gradually grating away at Cedric, until he cracked.

"Just stop! I told you, I don't know if I can trust you!" replied Cedric, flustered.

"Cedric, you can, believe me..." said Harry soothingly, changing tactics.

"STOP!" yelled Cedric. Harry didn't stop.

"I won't, I swear. Cedric, I'm your friend treat me like one--"

"Stop!" replied Cedric, now making quite a commotion. By now, a group of students had gathered by the door of the hall, and were listening in on the conversation. Even if, Harry hadn't gotten quite as far as he wanted, he was not about to make a spectacle of himself and Cedric. Even if he was angry, that was no reason to put Cedric and himself in an unruly spotlight. So Harry took Cedric's advice, and stopped, just as Professor Dumbledore strode out into the hall.

"Ah, is there anything I can do for you boys?" asked Dumbledore, his eyes twinkling at Cedric and Harry.

"No sir, we just had a minor disagreement," replied Cedric, choosing his words carefully. He was regaining his composure.

"Ah, good. If you ever need to talk to me, I am in my office. You will find that another ear in a conversation can make matters much easier," said Dumbledore knowingly.

"Thank you sir. I think I'll pass up the offer for now. Bye Harry!" said Cedric, leaving the scene for the Hufflepuff common room.

"Yes, thank you for the offer Professor Dumbledore. I'm tired myself," replied Harry.

"Ah yes, we all are a bit drowsy, after that delightfully filling feast. I must thank the house elves, I daresay they outdid themselves this year..." remarked Dumbldore conversationally.

"Yes, er, delightfully filling. Well, I've got to go!" replied Harry, as the crowd of people witnessing this exchange continued to grow.

_Well_, thought Harry. _Now I'm sure he likes me._

_Can you keep a Secret?_

**Or is this situation secret?**

cHcHcHcHcHcHcHcHcHcHcHcH

After an already eventful night, Harry opened the common room door to find yet another disturbance awaiting him. Hermione and Ron stood there, arguing. When they saw Harry come in the room, the stopped.

They expected him to say something, that much was clear. Harry just wasn't sure what.

A/N: Another chapter in the bag after yet another long wait... I hoped you enjoyed the chapter, it was a bit of a change of pace. And there's a cliff type thing happening at the end of this chapter. Hmmmmm, well, please review and I'll try to update. I am reaching the end of my job soon, so I may be able to go on a little writing spree fairly soon. We shall see about that, though. And if you are looking for another HarryxCedric story, one a little fluffier and cuter than this one (more humorous as well), I have started betaing The Boy Who Loved by Takeo. Just a suggestion...

**Thanks for all of the positive feedback on the story! I really appreciate it **

**And I guess I will start this review reply thing, because I love my reviewers.**


	9. Chapter 8: Friend or Foe?

Disclaimer: Based on J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter. Don't hurt me for having fun.

A/N: I'm baaaack! And with an outline, too. I think I can pretty much get all 25 of those chapters out. Lets just hope evil plot bunnies don't ruin my outline beyond recognition. Because then I need to start over from scratch, which is not good. Anyway, here's a little bit shorter of a chapter, but hopefully good nonetheless. Enjoy my lovelies!

**Chapter 8: Friend or Foe?**

As Harry looked at his two friends, he couldn't help but feel like they expected him to say something. And call it a gay guy's sense, but he thought he knew what that must be. Even if the topic was forced, Harry was going to avoid it as long as Ron was in the room, and may be even if he wasn't there.

"Hey," Harry said, searching for words. "Sorry about ducking out early at the feast, I couldn't take it anymore. All the people, and the Triwizard tournament, I just had a long day, and was, well, overwhelmed."

"That's understandable. I was having trouble not leaving the Hall myself," remarked Hermione. "I couldn't stand the Beauxbatons girls at all." She openly glared at Ron.

"Take that back," Ron snapped. "They're a good lot, and you bloody well know it."

"See, this is what I have to deal with," commented Hermione. "What you even see in them, I don't know."

"What's to see, they're beautiful," replied Ron, sighing.

"There's more to people than just physical beauty! Like intelligence. Goodness of heart. Generosity. Humor. The person him or herself. I bet you don't even know them. Your probably haven't even bothered talking to them!" replied Hermione.

"Who needs to know them? You know, all of that other stuff is a load of rubbish," retorted Ron. "And for your information, I have talked to her."

"Oh that's right. One of them came over and asked for food," said Hermione, making Ron blush in embarrassment. "And she was quite stuck-up, I might add." Ron grunted in anger.

"She was not! She was pleasant, polite, and--"

"You just thought she was all of those things because she was pretty!" cried Hermione. Ron looked quite upset at this accusation.

"Ron, watch what you say..." Harry warned, but Ron failed to listen.

"No, I didn't! And everyone knows looks are more important than any of that other stuff anyway," he commented, as though it were known fact. Hermione blew up.

"I can't believe you! You have the depth of a piece of parchment, you superficial--" said Hermione.

"You must admit, Ron" cut in Harry, before Hermione could hex Ron out of existence, "you have been spewing rubbish yourself." Apparently, he said something wrong.

"You guys are daft as a brush, I could care less what you say! You're just mad because you're--you're not anywhere near pretty," spat Ron, choosing his words fairly carefully.

Hermione turned away for a moment, her robes ruffling slightly.

"I'm going to bed," said Ron. But before he could, Harry heard Hermione mutter something. Suddenly, Ron started clawing his face and ran away towards the dorms. But before he sprinted up the staircase, Harry caught sight of a bat-bogey.

"Good riddance," cried Hermione as Ron slammed the door to the boy's dormitory shut.

"Is Ginny anywhere nearby?" asked Harry, looking for her. He was sure she had cast the spell.

"Er-no, she went to bed hours ago. But why do you ask?"

"It's just, I swear I saw bat-boogeys..."

"Oh, that. Ginny taught them to me, right useful in a pinch, I must say. Ron crossed the line, and I just took justice into my own hands."

"Hermione!"

"Like I said, it's justice. I have no problem with that. But honestly, I don't know what I see in him," she told Harry, shaking her head. She looked oddly forlorn, despite how angry she had just been.

"Yeah, well, everyone has their off days. He'll come through. I just wish it'd be sooner rather than later," remarked Harry forebodingly. Hermione thought for a moment, then nodded in agreement, if only slightly.

"He's still a thickheaded bastard, though," she commented.

"But he's our thickheaded bastard, and I told you, he'll snap out of it," Harry replied, earning a slight smile from Hermione.

"Let's go sit down somewhere, I need a rest after that," said Hermione, pulling Harry along. Apparently she not only wanted to rest, but to rest with Harry. She wanted to talk and would not take no for an answer.

Before he knew it, Hermione had dragged him across the room. Pausing for an instant, she plopped down in one of two cozy chains in the secluded corner of the common room, and motioned for him to follow. Reluctantly, he sat down, slowly settling into his chair. They, looked at each other for a moment.

"So, Harry," she started, breaking an awkward silence that had settled between them. "Anything on your mind?"

Harry pondered this question for a minute, wondering if it was time to tell Hermione that yes, he did indeed have something on his mind. Forget on his mind, it was on the forefront of his mind every day since he had figured it out. He was worried sick not only over his friends accepting him, but also if Cedric would be able to like him.

"Yeah, there's a lot on my mind," remarked Harry after a long pause. Hermione raised an eyebrow and looked at him intently. "The Triwizard tournament, for instance."

"But you can't even enter, Harry!" replied Hermione, now frustrated and flustered. "Why would you care?"

"I don't know, eternal glory seems tempting and all," Harry commented conversationally.

"Is that really all that's on you're mind, that's bothering you? Are you going to tell me what's bothering you?"

"Oh bother!" replied Harry.

"See, I knew something was bugging you. What is it?"

"You."

"Now, really! Please show me maturity beyond that of a five-year old. Something's wrong with you. Tell me what it is."

"Okay, fine. There's something else that's bothering me, I guess."

"I thought so. You know you can tell me anything, right Harry?"

"Yes, Hermione, I know."

"It's just, I'm worried about you. You've been very...introspective and emotional lately and I don't know why. I wish I did, but I only have hypotheses."

"I'd like to hear them."

"Er-I think you'd rather not."

"Why?"

"I don't know if it'd offend you Harry--" commented Hermione. And suddenly, Harry felt butterflies fly into his stomach, his breathing hitch, his body go cold, nervous shivers overtake him...all at once. It was a mysterious amalgam of emotions, of anticipation of what would come next. He knew it was a perfect chance to tell her, and another chance like it might not pop up. So, he dived in and hoped for the best.

"Hermione,"

"Yes?"

"I'm--" he paused for a moment, trying to get the word to come out. It wouldn't though, no matter how hard he tried. He was just too God damn nervous, the butterflies in his stomach were fluttering around way too much, and he was shaking pretty badly. But then, all the memories of Hermione being a close friend, a good friend, someone who he could always trust flooded his mind. He built up all of his Gryffindor courage, all of his will, to say the word.

"--gay," he finished, after a notably long pause. He looked at Hermione for a response, but saw none forming. She just looked like she was deep in thought, however, with her brow slightly furrowed. After what seemed like an eternity, she looked up and smiled at him.

"Oh Harry, I'm so glad you felt you could tell me! And you know I'll always be there for you!" she replied, tears filling her eyes. She jumped up and hugged Harry, and soon enough, Harry found himself crying too, as the giant weight he had been carrying for months finally lifted off of his shoulders.

"Now look what you've done!" he said, looking at her. "Now you've got me...all.. emotional." She smiled, with fresh tears still glistening in her eyes.

"I can't help it!" she replied, wiping her eyes. "I-I've just never had a friend who, who would trust me so much."

"Rubbish," replied Harry.

"No, it's-- true," she sobbed.

"But, you're the best person I know!" he commented, his emotions settling. "You're smart, kind, witty, energetic, perceptive..."

"Oh, stop!"

"But it's true Hermione. I'm glad you're my friend."

"Well, fine," she said, still smiling. After a good few minutes of mild banter, the two found their way back to a more constructed conversation.

"So, you like guys?" said Hermione, wiping away a final tear.

"Er-yes..." said Harry, clearly shy about the matter at hand.

"Oh, don't be so timid. I think you'll find it helps to actually talk about it," she said.

"That's easy for you to say."

"I suppose it is," remarked Hermione. "Tough luck. So, who do you like?"

"What?"

"You must fancy someone. Who is it?"

"What makes you think I fancy someone?"

"The fact that you know you're gay. Now, tell me who."

"No!"

"So you admit you like someone?"

"Wait, I didn't mean that..."

"Yes, you did. Now, who is it?"

"Well, it's a crush."

"On who?"

"It's unrequited at this point though" admitted Harry.

"Well, we'll see if we can change that," said Hermione. "Now, which lucky guy is it?" Harry blushed.

"It's--Cedric. Cedric Diggory." There, he said it. It was another giant weight off of his shoulders.

"Ahhhh, yes, I suppose he is quite--well--fanciable. We haven't seen too much of him though, have we?" asked Hermione, beginning to count with her fingers. She seemed to be going over just how many times they had seen him. "The first time would have been the World Cup... Have you known since then?"

"Known what?"

"That you're gay."

"Pipe down Hermione, I don't want everyone hearing us."

"Oh, right. So, has it been that long?" continued Hermoine, unabashed.

"Yes."

"And you've only had contact with Cedric a handful of times."

"Yeah."

"Minor problem."

"Tell me about it. I've been dying to just talk to him and I just haven't been able to."

Hermione thought over this for a moment.

"You'd think you would have seen him more, wouldn't you?"

"Exactly. That's why I think he's been avoiding me."

"Yes, it would appear that way, wouldn't it?"

"That's what I thought, but why would he want to avoid me?"asked Harry.

"Oh, there's loads of reasons for that, but each one is just as probable as the next."

"Yeah, I was thinking along those lines. That's why I ambushed Cedric after dinner today. To figure out exactly why I haven't seen him at all."

"So that's why there was all that yelling after dinner, and the huge crowd gathering!" commented Hermione. "I didn't really notice you at the center of it; Ron and I were already at each other's throats."

"I'm glad you missed it, though. I wish everyone else missed it, too. This is a little early for the spotlight to be over this particular part of me."

"Did you say anything about liking blokes?"

"Hermione, quiet!" said Harry, looking around the room. It looked like no one had noticed what Hermione said.

"Sorry, I'm just sort of excited. For you, I mean."

"I know you'll keep the secret," replied Harry.

"So, did you say anything to Cedric about being gay?" asked Hermione, with her voice noticeably lowered.

"No I didn't. If I did, it would have been all over the school as fast as you can say _Petrificus totalus. _ There really were a lot of people there, weren't there?"

"Well, I exaggerated, there weren't that many people--"

"Yes, there were, don't try to make it seem better than it was."

"Sorry," apologized Hermione.

"It's fine. I just feel bad for Cedric. He didn't handle being in the spotlight that well."

"Why did you think that is?"

"Oh, I made him crack under pressure. And no one wants to be seen like that."

"You WHAT?" said Hermione, losing her composure. When she realized that she had, in fact, had quite the outburst, she smoothed out her robes, and looked Harry in the eye.

"You did what?" she asked again, this time controlled. Harry couldn't help but smile.

"I told you, I was trying to figure out why he'd been avoiding me."

"You don't really know he was avoiding you in the first place..."

"That's what he said. But after two months in my position, you come to conclusions, and actions must be taken. So I snapped at him."

"What'd that tell you?" inquired Hermione.

"Well, he really cracked when I asked why. Wouldn't tell me."

"Interesting."

"Of course it's interesting. I'm pretty sure he likes me now. Right when I got to the point of why he was avoiding me, he locked right up. Wouldn't let me push any farther. Kept saying 'stop.'"

"And how long did you push for?"

"Ummmm, I asked quite a few times. Then I tried to ask nicely."

"That's something, at least. You didn't completely destroy him."

"Yeah, and I told you, he's got to like me."

"Harry, you can't be that sure," replied Hermione, shaking her head. "I'll admit, it does suggest a lot, but you can't bank on his sexual preference. There really are a myriad of other possible reasons for his reaction."

"But none quite as likely," said Harry with a grin.

"I'll admit, that part is true. Just, don't get your hopes too far up."

"Why?"

"I-I couldn't stand to see you crushed," remarked Hermione, looking away from Harry for a moment, and letting a stray tear slide down her cheek.

"I won't be crushed, Hermione. Don't worry. I just would like to see what could happen."

"I really hope you won't be. It's really hard to fall that hard, especially from the first person you think you love."

"Hermione," said Harry soothingly.

"So, let's get to work," Hermione interjected, pushing ahead. "I think the best path of action is just getting close to him for now, and--"

"Hermione," Harry said, trying to get Hermione's attention. She ignored him.

"And if you get close, you should become his best friend. We can see what happens from there."

"Hermione!" said Harry, with a bit of force behind his voice.

"Yes?" she replied, finally acknowledging him.

"You warned me about being hurt by my crush like you knew how it feels...how do you know?" asked Harry. Hermione's lower lip trembled.

"Because, I just fell," she replied, crying silently.

cHcHcHcHcHcHcHcHcHcHcHcH

After a good half hour spent plotting on how Harry would get to Cedric, the packed Gryffindor common room began to empty as people headed off to bed. As Harry watched a group of guys head up into the dormitories, Hermione stiffled a yawn.

"I think they have the right idea," she remarked, looking at the last boy in the group climb the stairs. "We've covered enough to help get you and Cedric to at least be friends. I'm going to head off to bed then. See you tomorrow!"

"Yeah, see ya later," replied Harry, now yawning himself. After Hermione had gotten to her feet and gone to bed, Harry forced himself to leave the awfully comfortable chair and to walk up the stairs to his dormitory so he could collapse and go to sleep.

However, as he looked down at his bed before he fell over, he noticed a small, clean white envelope. Without a moments hesitation, he ripped it open and read it.

It was from Sirius. After months of waiting, he had finally gotten back to Harry about his scar. Even though Harry was glad to hear from Sirius, he found himself a little depressed after he finished.

It didn't matter anymore that he was unfathomably tired. The only thing that Sirius had talked about was Harry telling Dumbledore about the scar.

It looked as though he was to pay a late night visit to the Headmaster.

ChcHcHcHcHcHcHcH

With the Marauder's Map in hand and his Invisibility cloak covering him, Harry approached the Headmaster's office. But once he arrived, he was faced with a bit of a dilemma. How on earth could he get in? He didn't have any idea what the password might be, and found himself panicking. It was only a matter of time until someone caught him up here, he was sure. And sure enough, one minute later, a teacher began to patrol the hallway.

And not just any teacher.

It was Professor McGonagall, looking stern as ever. Despite his brain telling him to do otherwise, Harry ripped off his cloak.

"Professor?" said Harry, trying to get McGonagall's attention. After what appeared to be a frightened hop, she looked over at Harry. She looked relieved, yet angry.

"Potter!" she asked, pursing her lips tightly and striding over to him. "What are you doing out of bed this late?"

"I came to see Professor Dumbledore," Harry replied.

"First of all, it is doubtful that the headmaster is awake at this hour. He, like every other human being, has to sleep. And secondly, may I ask why you didn't see it fit to ask to be escorted by a prefect or myself? You are well out of bounds. I'm afraid that I'll have to deduct--" but before McGonagall could deduct any points or assign a week's worth of detention, Harry interrupted. McGonagall looked quite angry now.

"It's my scar, Professor. It's been hurting me, and I thought it urgent that I see the Headmaster immediately."

"Even so..." she replied, still not convinced. Harry gulped.

"I had a dream about Voldemort, and..." but that was all McGonagall needed to hear, as she quickly interrupted him.

"Peanut Butter Cup!" said McGonagall, earning a bemused look from Harry.

But right then, the door to the Headmaster's office opened as the Gargoyle moved out of the way, and McGonagall led Harry up the stair case right into Dumbledore's office. As Harry peered in, he saw all of the usual clutter, including a new feature: a tall, teetering stack of papers that seemed to be wearing a wizard's hat. McGonagall and him stopped for a moment, and waited.

It wasn't until she coughed that any movement came from the room. And even then, it was only a pair of twinkling eyes that appeared over the papers, looking quite gleeful.

"Ah, I thought I heard something stirring," said Dumbledore jovially.

"Peanut Butter Cup?" he added, his arm appearing from behind the papers and motioning towards a bowl on his desk. McGonagall shook her head.

"Albus, are those from the Ministry?"

"Yes, I'm afraid, they seem to find joy in towers of paperwork. I fear that they consider such a trait normal. But normal is vastly overrated, I must say. But enough about my boring duties," said Dumbledore, and the papers instantly disappeared. "What brings Harry here at this hour?"

"It's urgent. Potter's scar is bothering him." Dumbledore nodded, as though he expected this.

"Well, sit down, Harry" he said, waving his wand until an apparently harmless chair flew in from another room. "And thank you, Minerva. I think that will be all."

"But, shouldn't I--"

"I shall make sure he gets to bed safely," said Dumbledore finally. McGonagall nodded and swiftly left the room.

"So, your scar has been bothering you since this summer and you have been having dreams about Voldemort. Am I correct in that assumption?" asked Dumbledore.

"Yes...but how did you..."

"You shall find that you are not the only person receiving letters from a recently escaped felon," said Dumbledore, looking over his half-moon spectacles at Harry. Comprehension dawned on Harry.

"Oh. That explains a lot, I suppose."

"That it does," commented Dumbledore. "But it does not explain, however, why you did not tell me."

"I don't know, really. I didn't want to make a big deal out of something so minor. It's just some pain every now and again."

"So it's a regular occurrence?" asked Dumbledore, his tone losing its previously jovial nature.

"Yes. I guess it is."

"Well, I am glad that you did come to tell me now, even if it took Sirius's suggestion."

"What?"

"Well, when he told me of your scar, he seemed desperate to find a way to help you. Naturally, I suggested myself," remarked Dumbledore conversationally, his eyes twinkling once more.

"I suppose that makes sense. But why you?"

"Because, I believe that your scar is a mental connection to Voldemort, and I am one of the few individuals capable of helping you."

"How?" asked Harry, now interested. He wanted a way, any way, to end the pain and the sleepless nights he had constantly faced.

"Occlumency is how, Harry. I am a trained Occlumens, capable of teaching you. Again, I believe that this fairly esoteric art may be the protection that you need."

"Occlu-what-sit?"

"Occlumency. The art of barricading your mind against outside invasion. Trained Occlumens are practically the only people capable of teaching any person, no matter how gifted."

"So you'll teach me?" asked Harry, looking happy at the thought. Dumbledore smiled, but shook his head slightly.

"Not yet," he answered, and watched as Harry's smile faded. "I will, but not yet. First, I need you to practice clearing your mind every night before you go to bed. After a month of preparation, I think we will be ready to begin. And remember, do not speak a word of this to anyone outside your closest circle of friends."

"Yes, Professor!" said Harry, not the slightest bit abashed by Dumbledore's comment. "I guess I'll head back to bed then."

"Before you do, is there anything you'd like to tell me? Anything at all?" asked Dumbledore. All of the sudden, the giant weight of Harry's hidden secret fell upon him.

"N-no," Harry stuttered.

"An ear of mine will always be present if you need someone to listen to you," said Dumbledore, opening a drawer on his desk and putting his hand inside it. He rummaged around for a minute and pulled out what looked like a rather bedraggled ear. "Whenever you think you need to speak to me, simply tap this with you wand and say _exaudio_."

"You don't have to do that, Professor."

"Ah, but I'd like to," answered Dumbledore. When he motioned to give the ear to Harry, Harry wouldn't accept it. "Now, now, don't be rude. Take it, Harry. You may find yourself in desperate need of someone to listen to you in the coming months, I'm afraid." At that ominous warning, Harry took the ear, although reluctantly.

"Thank you, sir."

"You're very welcome. And are you sure you wouldn't like a peanut butter cup? I find them most delectable..." said Dumbledore, popping one into his mouth.

"I guess I might try one..." said Harry, putting his hand near the bowl.

"Careful, they're enchanted," warned Dumbledore. But before Harry could ask what he meant, one of the harmless looking cups flew at his hand and pecked it.

"What just happened?"

"Oh, I suppose you were about to pick a bird. An eagle, from the looks of it," commented Dumbledore.

"But-the candy—isn't it Muggle?"

"Well yes, but see, I thought that just plain peanut butter in chocolate was a tad--boring. To liven things up a bit, I combined another Muggle treat with it."

"What?"

"Yes, well, I enchanted them to act like animal crackers," said Dumbledore, his eyes twinkling. "Keeps me on edge in the wee hours of the night. I always have to be on guard for the rare tiger..."

"Oh, well, I guess I'll pass on them, then," said Harry, not eager to have a finger bitten off.

"What's life without taken chances?" asked Dumbledore, tossing another peanut butter cup into his mouth.

"Well-I-it's safe, I guess," said Harry.

"It seems to me that Ms. Granger has finally had an effect on you."

"I guess you could say that."

"Hmmm, well, I'm here for you if you need to tell me anything. And remember, an ear of mine will always be with you," said Dumbledore, his blue eyes shining like a crisp, blue ocean on a sunny summer day.

"I'll-I'll keep that in mind. Good night, Professor!"

"Yes, good night, Harry. Pleasant dreams."

_He'll tell me in good time._

A/N: The chapter from hell, that's what this is. But sadly, it needed to be done. All of it. But the next few chapters are so wonderful! You're going to love them, I know you will. Probably see you guys in a week. Same time, same place. Longer chappie, perhaps? We'll see. Reviewing always helps the writing process along.

I love my reviewers. And I have started giving out review replies. I love the feedback.

**Reviewing helps me update faster. More reviews, the sooner I update usually. **

Love you all!


	10. Chapter 9: Final Distance

Disclaimer: This is based on J.K. Rowling's _Harry Potter_. Not mine.

A/N: Look, another chapter! No, really, I wrote another chapter. Aren't you proud of me? I am such a good person, I know. This chapter's title is Utada Hikaru's FINAL DISTANCE, a beautiful ballad, if I do say so myself. Just be forewarned parts of it are in Japanese (you can search youtube for it and see the video while you're at it) if you choose to listen to it. Anyway, just a little background: the song was originally Distance, from her second album. However, when a lunatic shot a school girl, a fan of Utada's, Utada decided to do something to remember her death, and in response, Utada changed around the lyrics and created this sweeping ballad. It's pretty. Okay, enough boring you. Oh, and thanks for the reviews!

**Chapter 9: Final Distance**

Sitting down for an early breakfast at the crack of dawn was not Harry's idea of a good start to a Saturday. However, Hermione insisted that they get up early and get down to the Great Hall, but she wouldn't tell Harry why. Sitting down, Harry couldn't help but notice the goblet that breathed a blue wisp of fire as though it were living.

_That must be why we're here_, though Harry. Looking around, he noticed it was hard not to notice the goblet. It turned out that all of the attention in the Great Hall was focused upon it, from the whispering Slytherin gossip mongers with their furtive glances, to a group of preppy Ravenclaws laughing hysterically at their clever quips, to a rather large crowd of assorted students that had gathered right around the cup itself. Taking his toast and Hermione along with him, Harry strode over to the growing group of people to see what all the hubbub was about.

"Sounds like someone's entering the tournament," commented Hermione, eagerly listening to the crowd. She took a bite out her toast.

"Yeah, but who?" asked Harry. Hermione shrugged and finished off her toast.

Pushing through the tightly packed people, Harry made his way towards the front, with Hermione right behind him. As Harry approached the clearing, he peered around to see a girl standing alone, taking deep breaths.

Once Harry caught sight of her face, he immediately recognized who it was. But Hermione beat him to the punch.

"It's that-that, pardon me, but, is it that bitchy prefect?" she said, fuming.

"Hermione!"

"You know it's true!"

"Yeah, but it's you! And that's a prefect."

"I know, but she abused her power. She was more than just overzealous, she went out of her way to be mean to us," Hermione shook her head. "I wonder why she'd even bother entering."

"It's not like being mean can keep you out," said Harry.

"Really, Harry, you need to read _Hogwarts: A History_. The Goblet chooses people on strength of character, not proficiency in charms, hexes, or defense. So being actions like that will definitely be to her disadvantage here."

"Oh."

"Shh," said a fifth year Slytherin. The crowd settled down, only whispering about Ruth Callum.

"That must be her. Ruth I mean," whispered Hermione. Harry nodded, and before he could say something else, the Slytherin shushed him again.

Ruth's chest was moving up and down rapidly as she walked past a faint, white circle surrounding the the pedestal. She paused once she had passed over it, sighed in relief, then strode right up to the goblet. She waited for a moment, studying the blue flames, and her usually stern face let worry pass over it. A few catcalls egging her on sounded throughout the room, and she took a deep breath. Then she curtly dropped the paper into the goblet, and watched the blue flames grow into tall, red pillars. And so she was accepted as a contestant, earning gentle applause from the growing group.

"Wow," remarked Hermione. "It's just the goblet, it's greater than I could have imagined. Words on paperreally can't do it justice. I mean, look at the side of it. I've never seen anything like it!"

"Yeah," answered Harry, even though he hadn't heard or read of the Goblet beforehand. And now, he couldn't help but study the intricate design. At first glance, it appeared to be just like any other wooden goblet Harry had seen. In fact, it looked completely ordinary down to the base from afar, except for its spouting flames. But now, peering closer, the details in the design came into focus. The design was so minute, yet so realistic with crowds of thousands depicted, all in the space of a few inches of surface. It was an amazing artifact, to say the least.

Before Harry and Hermione could lose themselves in thought over the goblet, another person stepped up to enter. As the crowd parted before the student, Harry saw none other than Cedric Diggory walk into the clearing of the crowd.

_Damn, he looks good when he's worried,_ thought Harry. Cedric's face was flushed slightly, and from the look on his face, he was very deep in thought. Once everyone caught sight of him, they started cheering.

"Yeah Ced, put it in the goblet!"

"Make us Puffs proud!"

"Come on!"

"Yeah Cedric!" shouted Hermione, joining in. Harry looked at for a moment, and saw her smiling widely.

Harry glanced at Cedric to see him blushing. Otherwise, however, Cedric completely ignored the attention, and his eyes looked glazed. He stood still, and the crowd hushed.

There was another minute of whispering before Cedric's eyes glinted and he grinned, walking forward and earning quite a few cheers, including another one from Hermione.

"We believe in you!" she cried, getting caught up in the excitement, and earning an annoyed look from Harry. "Well, if you're not supporting him, I will for you!" Harry rolled his eyes, but smiled.

"Who says I'm not supporting him?" asked Harry. "You're going to win for sure!"

Cedric looked up, noticed Harry's voice among all others, and smiled. Harry saw Cedric look away and gracefully step over the age line. He flashed a grin at his friends. Harry smiled. Just a couple of more steps. He was almost there.

Cedric stopped, and with a casual toss of a small, seemingly insignificant piece of paper, he sealed his fate.

Harry smiled, Hermione clasped her hands together in glee, the crowd went, well, wild, and Cedric, Cedric winked at Harry, like the fight Harry had started never happened.

Hermione saw and smirked. But Harry--he could care less. Right now, his emotions swarmed. He was happy, hopeful, overjoyed, optimistic... he was floating above everything, everyone, above the loud applause, above the handshakes, transcending all else, looking forward to the future, to what was to come.

He didn't even notice Hermione dragging him away from the room until they came to the common room, where he yelled at her for making him leave Cedric. She told him Ron had come, and she had only wanted to avoid him. But still...

_I wanna be with you now._

cHcHcHcHcHcHcHcHcHcH

The rest of the day was a blur. After Harry and Hermione had left breakfast, they had gone straight to work on their homework. After essays in Potions, Transfiguration, Charms, and History of Magic, Harry found himself and Hermione getting a quick bite to eat for lunch, then heading straight off to the library to research for their Herbology project.

In Harry's infinite wisdom, he had chosen one of the toughest plants in the fourth year curriculum, also rumored to appear on holes. He didn't expect it to be anything special. After all, how bad could grass be? But Jupiterian Grass was by no means normal. Like the Roman God Jupiter, the harmless looking grass blades had the power to shock you. Not only that, but Harry was appalled to find that large clumps of it could summon lightning storms to kill you, that is if you stayed around long enough to find out, as was likely to happen in the greenhouse. Luckily, Hermione had convinced him of the necessity to research the plant before they took care of it in class, as otherwise, he could have easily been electrocuted. She looked quite smug after Harry told her that she had been right.

After that brief excursion to the library, it was back to the common room to map out the rings of Saturn, and then fill in a whole dream chart. Hermione found herself with just as much work, with a whole series of Arithmancy calculations that she'd have to do. She seemed quite worried, and as she had to have all the correct so she could just take her test on Monday, she couldn't stop checking over her work. Needless to say, they were very happy when they got to their Care of Magical Creatures homework, hours later, which was to simply research an animal they think they should study in class and present it on Tuesday. Anything other than the blast-ended skrewts that Hagrid had forced upon them was easy to deal with at this point.

And with that assignment finally finished, Harry and Hermione discovered that they had worked up quite the appetite, and went down to dinner. When they arrived, they were surprised to find out that today was, in fact, Halloween. They had completely forgotten, and if it were not for Halloween staring them in the face everywhere they looked, they would have surely made it through the day without ever realizing it was a holiday.

Amidst the normal furnishings of the Great Hall they saw giant jack-o-lanterns skirting the House tables, foreign ghouls and ghosts flying around uninhibited, a stray banshee howling in a corner, black cats hiding underneath tables, a portable graveyard in between the Slytherin and Ravenclaw Tables, zombies falling over the Hufflepuff table, and a sky filled not only with stars, but also with plenty of black candles. Dumbledore had clearly outdone himself this year in the face of foreign visitors.

After taking in that breathtaking display, Hermione and Harry headed over to the Gryffindor table, where they noticed Ron sitting with Seamus and Dean. At this point, they decided it best to avoid him and instead, eat their dinner in peace. So they sat down near Ginny, Neville, and a few Gryffindor fifth years. Ginny looked especially happy to see them.

"You guys made it right in time," she said, passing over some bouillabaisse.

"For what?" asked Harry.

"The Goblet is going to choose the contestants for the tournament, I assume," said Hermione matter-of-factly, biting into a piece of German pumpernickle bread.

"Exactly," said Ginny.

"Ooh, we wouldn't want to miss that, now would we?" said Harry. Hermione's eyes looked at him, silently laughing.

"Oh look!" said Neville, pointing to the front of the room. "Dumbledore's standing up!"

Before Dumbledore could beckon the students to quiet down, the roaring drone of conversation in the room died completely. Everyone wanted to hear what Dumbledore had to say.

"I think it is time that we choose the champions," said Dumbledore. He walked along the teacherss table and strode out to the pedestal holding the goblet.

"I must thank all of you for showing such interest in the event. However, it is my grave duty to tell you that only three students shall have the opportunity to face mortal peril," said Dumbledore, his face serious.

"Now, without further ado, from Beauxabatons, the champion is--" Dumbledore held out his arm, and the goblet shone pink, sptting out a dainty, pink piece of paper. "Fleur Delacour!" The girl to which Ron had taken a fancy jumped up, looking quite pleased with herself. Harry looked at Ron and noticed that he, too, looked quite pleased.

"From Durmstrang, the champion will be--" Dumbledore held out his hand once more, and the goblet spurted a huge, deep purple pillar, sending a ragged, gray piece of paper zooming towards Dumbledore. He easily caught the projectile. "Viktor Krum!"

Across the room at the Slytherin table, a stocky young man jumped to his feet. He doned a snow white robe, which Harry assumed to be polar wolf fur. Striding to the front of the room, Krum looked like he had just achieved a victory. All of the sudden, someone else started "whooping," overjoyed at Krum's selection. Looking to the staff table, Harry saw the Durmstrang Headmaster grinning widely and making all the sound he was permitted. Krum then followed Fleur out of the room.

"And finally, I am proud to announce that the Hogwarts champion is--" Dumbledore stretched out his hand, and the goblet's flame morphed into a deep red mixed with dark oranges. Out of the flames soared a tiny, piece of parchment, and after circling around Dumbledore's hat, it plopped down in his hand. "CEDRIC DIGGORY!" A roar sounded out from the Great Hall as every single person in Hufflepuff got to their feet, giving Cedric a standing ovation and shouting at the top of their lungs. And best of all, Cedric walked right by Harry and actually grinned at him, filling Harry with a giddy, happy feeling.

But that feeling was not to stay. As Cedric neared Dumbledore and followed the other champions into a side chamber, the Goblet changed colors once more. Everyone in the hall hushed as the Goblet burnt green, spewing out a small paper airplane that seemed to enjoy itself as it flew towards Dumbledore. Dumbledore's expression, however, was anything but jovial as he caught the paper airplane.

"Harry! Harry Potter!" he bellowed, urging Harry to come up. It took a push from Hermione to shake him out of shook and get him walking up to the top, where he met a grave Dumbledore.

"Into the side room, Harry."

Harry walked forward, not knowing what else to do.

_I wanna be with you, you, nobody but you._

_Don't stop, don't you ever let me go._

cHcHcHcHcHcHcHcHcHcHcHcHcH

After being called a "child," doubted by almost every person in the room, yelled at for entering the tournament, threatened five times, and being frightened to death, Harry felt surprisingly happy. Walking away from the room, he couldn't help but smile. Despite all of the suspicious glares, all of the anger, Cedric had stood by him. From the moment Harry stepped in the room, Cedric had made sure that he stayed close to him, and Harry was glad. It made him feel safe and secure, despite the fact that someone might want to kill him. He grasped the heart around his neck, and he felt hope.

"Harry?" said someone behind him. He looked over to see Cedric jogging to catch up to him. "Hey, I just wanted to apologize for everyone in there, I mean, how could they think that you entered?"

"Believe me, they'll think of every reason possible. But you shouldn't apologize for them. And don't you at least want my explanation?" asked Harry.

"Why you didn't enter?" Cedric asked, Harry nodded. "No, I don't need to. I just can't see how you would want to put yourself in grave danger," said Cedric. Having Cedric believe him without even asking was such a relief. "Friendly enough for you?" Harry grinned, catching the reference to their quarrel.

"Yeah, although even good friends want explanations sometimes," remarked Harry.

"I want to be more than good friends," replied Cedric, instantly blushing. " I mean-- I think we could be best friends, you know?"

"Maybe," said Harry, his grin widening. "You can't force these things though. Just have to let 'em play out."

"Speaking of playing out, do you think you want to play some Quidditch tomorrow? I mean, the pitch should be open, and we won't get to play much this year, and..."

"I'd love to," said Harry, cutting off Cedric's nervous blabbering. Then Harry realized what he had just said. "Well-er-it sounds like a plan to me."

"Great," said Cedric, looking relieved. "See ya on the pitch at noon!"

"Sounds good, I'll see you then!" replied Harry, practically sprinting up the stairs to the Gryffindor common room to tell Hermione what had happened.

"Motus tumulus amplus!" Harry said to the fat lady, who instantly swung open despite being perturbed from being awoken from her "beauty sleep."

At first glance, Harry couldn't see Hermione anywhere. Looking around once more, Harry saw Hermione's frizzy hair in a corner by an empty chair. Walking over, he couldn't help but overhear her yelling.

"That's right, I'll hex you next time you try that! I told you, I'm saving that chair for someone!" she said, waving her wand threateningly. She looked towards Harry. "Oh, hi Harry. I saved you a seat."

"Thanks, but you didn't have to threaten someone with hexes just for me. I know that goes against your principles."

"Oh, don't worry. Fred and George were way out of line anyway, and I doubt I would have had to hex them had they charmed your chair. I mean honestly, will they want to the new Gryffindor hero into a toad?"

"They were planning what?"

"Don't worry about it! You have other things on your mind, I'm sure."

"Oh, yeah. I didn't enter the Triwizard tournament, you know."

"I never said you did," answered Hermione, clapping the book shut on her lap.

"Then do you believe me?"

"Of course I do. But some other people, well, you'll see."

"What? Everyone seems to want me to come celebrate, and you said it yourself. I'm the Gryffindor hero," said Harry, looking around the room. People were drinking butterbeer and having a lot of fun, it only seemed fit for all of them to wave Harry over to join them in their celebration for his entrance into the tournament.

"Yes, well, to start, they're all Gryffindors. You should have seen all of the other houses when you left. I don't think I've ever seen the Hufflepuffs that mad."

"What, but I didn't do anything?"

"You exist, and in doing so, you somehow came to be in the tournament and now they fear that you'll steal their glory. And the Slytherins and Ravenclaws are just as, if not more, pissed off. I wouldn't be surprised if they become belligerent."

"What?"

"They may even try to attack you now. It's doubtful, but they're quite angry."

"I had no idea," said Harry, shaking his head. "I don't even want to be in this tournament!"

"I know," acknowledged Hermione. "But that isn't the worst of it. Ron has taken this new development as a chance to declare vendetta on us."

"You're kidding."

"I certainly wish I was. Look, here he comes now," said Hermione, looking over Harry's shoulder. Harry looked behind him to see a fuming Ron marching over to him, looking ready to kill.

"Hey, mate," said Harry.

"Don't call me that," said Ron.

"Oh, sorry," said Harry.

"Don't apologize," commented Hermione. "He's your friend, and you should be able to call him that."

"Yeah right, like I'd be friends with such a show-off. Why didn't you even offer to help me enter the tournament? Oh that's right, because you want all the glory for yourself!" spat Ron.

"I did no such thing! Get your facts straight," replied Harry defensively.

"Well, at least a proud, snobby person like you who thinks everyone is below him is better than that fag, Diggory," said Ron. Hermione gasped, and Harry's mouth opened in shock.

"What did you say?" asked Harry.

"You heard me, he's gay. He's a faggot." Harry look hurt beyond all measure.

"Ron, you've stepped over the line!" said Hermione. "Not only are you the most superficial person I've ever known, but you're about as nice as a rampaging dragon!"

"Shut up, Hermione," said Ron, not wanting to her this.

"No!" she cried.

"I think I'm going to go talk to the Beauxabatons girls. At least they appreciate me!" said Ron. Hermione had had it. Ron had gone much too far.

"_Inhonestas ulterius_!" she said, her wand pointed straight at Ron's face. An ugly vomit green light flew out of her wand and covered Ron's body. Nothing happened. Ron laughed.

But then, an image of triumph flew onto Hermione's face as Ron's nose grew longer, he became lankier, his red hair turned into a dull, disgusting shade of amber, his freckles became wretchedly spotty, he became hunched, his eyes lost their glint of liveliness, his limbs became spindly, and his teeth became crooked and yellow.

Ronald Weasley had become the definition of ugly if Harry had ever seen it. Ron looked at himself and gasped in disgust.

"You'll--you'll pay Hermione!" rasped Ron, his voice now an ugly shadow of its former self. He grasped his throat, searching for his normal voice. He grunted and ran out of the common room.

"I think we all needed you do to do that," said Harry. "Including Ron. Thanks."

"Oh, don't mention it. I don't let anyone insult who my friends are, especially when they do it so unabashedly," answered Hermione, putting her wand away. "Like I said before, it's justice served."

"I-I just didn't expect him to hate what I am," said Harry.

"Well, he wouldn't have said it if he knew. But even so, he's disturbingly homophobic. He'll come around though, I just know he will," said Hermione.

"I hope so."

"He will. Cheer up!"

"Oy, how am I supposed to be cheery after that?"

"I know it's hard, but you have to keep going. What good thing happened to you today?" asked Hermione. Harry had almost forgotten.

"Oh, nothing big. Cedric asked me to go flying with him tomorrow."

"Nothing big! That's what we've been waiting for!"

"Oh, yeah, I guess!"

"You guess? Come on, you should be excited. This is your chance to get to know Cedric. To see if you're just infatuated with him or if you really like him. Too see if he likes you. Doesn't that mean anything to you?"

"It does...it's just, I don't like losing my best friend."

"Don't hurt me for saying this, but if he can't accept you for who you are, he isn't your best friend."

Harry looked up at Hermione, his eyes glistening. He was on the verge of tears.

"He'll come around, don't worry! I know he can be obdurate, but he is capable of change."

"I guess," said Harry, still depressed.

"Comeon, cheer up! You don't want Cedric to see you like this tomorrow, do you?"

"I don't."

"Well then, that's enough dwelling on the past. Let's think ahead. After all, there are much more pressing matters at hand."

"Like what?"

"Oh, we have so much to do! I never anticipated him asking you out this early."

"It's not a date Hermione. But what do you mean, stuff to do?"

"I know, I know, but it's close enough! Let's see, we need to get you cleaned up, get you some nice clothes, but not too nice, I think casual should do, and green, green brings out your eyes. And you may have to practice talking to him, so you're not too nervous..."

"Wow, I guess I never thought there was that much to do. I thought I'd just get my broomstick and go."

"You could do that, but don't you want to do this with finesse?"

"Aren't we being a bit superficial?"

"Superficial would be giving you a complete makeover from head to toe. We're just getting you some clothes and giving you a shower. Not too bad, now?"

"I guess... I mean, I would like to look nice."

"Let's get to work then!" said Hermione, eager to do anything to get Harry's mind off of his Ron's bastardly actions. And as Hermione and Harry searched for the right clothes (which they were having trouble finding), Hermione was satisfied to know that she was, in fact, keeping his mind off of Ron.

Harry was caught up in the moment, looking happy as ever.

_I wanna be with you right now, that is all I want._

_Keep it going, don't stop, don't you ever let me go..._

A/N: Another chapter... I'm just sorry it was shorter than the last few. Ah well, there'll be some really HUGE ones coming soon. I won't split them apart. Just be forewarned, they're big. But for now, we have these nice, short, plot filled chapters. Yay. Well, see you next week! And thanks for the reviews.

**I love reviews!**


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